


A Chiswick Christmas Carol

by shadowed_sunsets



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Retelling of The Runaway Bride, happy ending this time!, holiday story, with Rose and Ten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-19
Updated: 2010-09-20
Packaged: 2019-01-10 01:20:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 41,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12288216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowed_sunsets/pseuds/shadowed_sunsets
Summary: After the Doctor rescues Rose from the alternate universe, they return for a very eventful reunion wherein they finally begin a relationship. Then, Rose and the Doctor's first trip afterward is   interrupted by the sudden appearance of a rude, and actually ginger,   bride inside the Tardis.





	1. Chapter 1

 

Earth, Chiswick, London, England, 21st Century

Nerys shifted uncomfortably on the hard wooden bench at the church. This was such a waste of time, she didn’t even understand why she’d been invited. She and Donna had never really gotten along, never. Yet here she was, sitting in this stuffy church, waiting for her ‘friend’ to walk down the aisle.

She turned in place, careful not to wrinkle her expensive silk dress, (just because she didn’t like Donna didn’t mean it wasn’t an excuse for her to dress up nicely), to see Donna standing eagerly in her frumpy wedding dress looking all too eager for the wedding to start.

Nerys shook her head and turned back around towards the front, ignoring the other people in the church- friends and family of the bride and groom, no doubt- who were restlessly chatting amongst themselves. Wasn’t that just like Donna? She was always eager for everything, eager to get her way. She and Lance had only been together for around six months before they’d decided to get married. But apparently she was the only one who thought that was just a bit too fast, everyone else acted like it was completely normal. Nerys tsked quietly. That was just like Donna too, though. Had everyone wrapped around her little finger.

Suddenly an organ started to play at the front of the church, and Nerys had to restrain herself from sighing loudly and saying “finally.” It wasn’t that she was worried about hurting Donna’s feelings, but there was a cute guy sitting in the pew in front of her, and she didn’t want him to think she was a total bitch when she chatted him up at the reception.

But Donna began to come down the aisle, and everyone in the church, including her, stood up and turned to look.

Nerys tried to force her face into something resembling the appreciative looks of the people around her, but failed entirely. She couldn’t help the look of pure contempt that kept leaking into her expression. How dare Donna get married before her! It was only because she’d forced Lance into this that they were having the wedding so quickly. Otherwise she definitely would have been married before Donna.

But there Donna was, walking down the aisle looking in complete bliss and shooting Lance eager looks every once in a while.

Nerys groaned quietly. This could _not_ be over soon enough.

It was only when Donna got halfway down the aisle when things got interesting.

Everything seemed to be going fine, for Donna at least, when all of a sudden Donna suddenly started glowing gold.

Nerys stared, half in outrage and half in shock. Was Donna really so eager to one-up everyone, that she’d pull a stunt like this in the middle of her own wedding? For the past six months, the wedding was _all_ Donna had talked about… it’d been so annoying.

But there she was, halfway down the aisle glowing gold… like she was a light-up doll or something.

The other people around her began to talk amongst themselves, but Nerys didn’t listen because Donna had apparently finally noticed that she was glowing since she started to scream. Screaming only like Donna could, a long and loud scream that Nerys was sure could break glass at some point. God, she could be so annoying.

And Donna just stood there screaming. She was glowing, and all she could do was scream. God.

Nerys was almost glad when Donna disappeared in a puff of golden dust that zoomed upwards and then through the ceiling. At least it meant she didn’t have to sit through a stupid wedding.

Hopefully they’d still have that reception. Free food and unmarried or married men could just almost make up for this ridiculous circus act of a wedding.

 

 

 

 

~~~

The Doctor ambled slowly around the console, flicking switches and fiddling with controls just for the sake of doing something with his hands while his mind was occupied elsewhere. He told himself over and over again that the danger was over: the Daleks and the Cybermen were taken care of (hopefully for good this time), and Rose was rescued and just somewhere else in the TARDIS. . 

But at the same time, he couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened in the control room all those months ago when he’d been sure he’d lost her forever. He had watched her fall towards the opening they’d made, hearts in his throat as she was nearly swept away into the nothingness of the Vortex along with all the Daleks and the Cybermen. Just in time though, Pete had managed to jump back using those ridiculous vortex hopping devices they’d created, and he’d been grateful that she’d been saved after all. They had been in two different universes, but she had been safe… and that was all that mattered.

The Doctor shook his head, trying to cast off those thoughts, and looked down at the console to find that he currently had a death grip on one of the controls.

Tsking quietly at himself, the Doctor released his grip and returned his hand to his side. He heard the TARDIS humming reassurances to him and sent her a grateful thank you.

She was right, he was thinking about this too much. He might have lost her for a short time, but not forever. He’d managed to get to her, and then return to this universe together to have a reunion of a lifetime, of several lifetimes. And now, his beloved Rose was just a few minutes’ walk away, still with him inside the TARDIS.

They hadn’t moved onto a new destination yet, even though he had been pacing around the console, fiddling with the controls for a while now. He’d been reluctant to take them back into the Vortex, so he had simply taken them near a supernova he’d thought Rose would enjoy, and somewhere he was sure they wouldn’t run into any trouble.

Although for them, saying that was like saying it wasn’t going to rain in Cardiff.

Since the Doctor was staring down at the console, he didn’t notice a stream of golden dust fly straight through the walls of the TARDIS to then reassemble itself in the form of a ginger-haired woman standing at the top of the ramp, wearing what seemed to be a wedding dress from Earth.

He did look up, however, when the TARDIS nudged him roughly to alert him that something was wrong.

The Doctor raised his head from the controls, ready to snap at her, when his eyes finally landed on the sudden unexpected occupant of the TARDIS.

He tensed, staring wide-eyed at her as his mind raced through all the possibilities of just exactly how she had gotten into the TARDIS.

When he was finished and still had no explanation, the Doctor straightened from where he had been leaning over the console to ask the woman how she had managed to simply appear in his TARDIS.

But all he managed to blurt was, “What?”

The ginger-haired woman spun around to gape at him then, with a face that he imagined looked very much like his own at the moment. Then she opened her mouth and demanded in an annoyed tone that he had to admit he probably deserved at the moment, “Who are you?”

He stared at her, and then around the console room in a frivolous attempt to find a new explanation for her sudden appearance. It didn’t make any sense, and he didn’t like things he couldn’t understand. “But, that-“

The woman continued to glare at him, crossing her arms as she asked loudly, “Where am I?”

This couldn’t be happening. This just really could not be happening to him right now. “What?” He questioned her utterly confused.

“What the hell is this place?” She thundered, voice rising to the point where she was practically yelling at him.

“What?” The Doctor managed to reply, then shook his head. “You, you can’t do that! I wasn’t… we’re in flight! What you did, that is, that is physically impossible! How did you-?”

But the woman interrupted his rant and leaned forward threateningly, able to do that even in her wedding dress. She then commanded, “Tell me where I am. I demand you tell me right now- where am I?”

Well, she seemed like she could definitely give him a run for his money on any ordinary day. The Oncoming Storm versus the Oncoming Wedding Dress… they’d be seen as a threat on every world. Add Rose in there and they could be the Oncoming Storm, the Oncoming Wedding Dress and Bad Wolf. What a trio. But today wasn’t an ordinary day, and why was Rose taking so long to interrupt them? She must have heard them practically shouting at each other by now.

To buy himself time, the Doctor answered her question as he continued to stare at her, “inside the TARDIS.”

But instead of being grateful to him for telling her, she simply looked indignant and asked, “the what?”

He rolled his eyes. “The TARDIS!” He repeated himself, annoyed at having to do so. It wasn’t that hard of a word to understand; couldn’t she just ask him to explain instead of making him say it again?

Apparently not, because she asked again, “the what?”

This time he really had to stop himself from snapping at her, feeling just as frustrated as she seemed to be. Couldn’t they skip over this part already? He got that she was feeling a bit put out at the moment, and he couldn’t really blame her, but that didn’t mean they had to sound like a broken record! “The TARDIS!”

When she made a frustrated noise, and looked like she was about to try to rip his head off, or slap him, neither of which he felt particularly resigned to having happen, the Doctor turned towards the console. It was just then as she asked, again, “The what??”

Partially distracted by fiddling with the controls in an attempt to figure out what had happened, as well as by the TARDIS sounding worried, _and_ by the ginger-haired woman, he snapped, “it’s called the TARDIS.”

The woman looked accusingly at him as she said angrily, having had quite enough with this skinny bloke giving her no answers and merely saying nonsense, “that’s not even a proper word! You’re just saying things!”

But the Doctor just pretended not to hear her; his hearing might be exceptional but that didn’t mean he could pretend it was selective at opportune times. He just said instead, “how did you get in here?”

She merely crossed her arms at him and retorted sharply, “Well, obviously, when you kidnapped me.” Her mind whirled as she tried to figure out just who exactly had helped this aggravating skinny bloke to kidnap her, barely containing her rage at having such a mean trick played on her. “Who was it? Who’s paying you?” She demanded angrily, and then it clicked, “is it Nerys? Oh, my God, she’s finally got me back. This has got Nerys written all over it.”

But the skinny bloke just stared at her, looking her up and down with completely faked confusion as she ranted at him. She knew better though, he was in on it. This was all his fault most likely.

The Doctor couldn’t help but stare at this woman in utter confusion. She was utterly mind-boggling, and what was she ranting at him about? “Who the hell is Nerys?” He questioned her with every reason to. But she simply glared at him.

“Your best friend.”

He shook his head. This wasn’t going anywhere. He either needed to figure out how she had managed to appear in the TARDIS, or find some way to wheedle the truth from her. He studied her most closely, and noted again just what she was wearing, “hold on, wait a minute. What’re you dressed like that for?”

Although it was a completely logical question, she seemed to take further insult at it. “I’m going ten pin bowling,” she mocked. Then she added, yelling, “why do you think, Dumbo? I was halfway up the aisle!”

Realizing that she was just going to go off on a rant once again, the Doctor began fiddling with the controls once again. But the woman just advanced on him as he did so, walking around as she continued to rant.

“I’ve been waiting all my life for this. I was just seconds away! And then you, I dunno, you drugged me or something!” She ranted, going all out with waving her arms, and glaring daggers at him as she yelled.

The Doctor honed in on the end of her rant in time to attempt to defend himself. “I haven’t done anything!”

But she wasn’t listening. That seemed to be one of the skills she was quite exceptional at.

“We’re having the police on you!” She continued, letting him know just how she felt about him kidnapping her out of her own wedding. “Me and my husband, as soon as he is my husband, we’re gonna sue the living backside off ya!”

Taking a moment to breathe, she glanced over at the skinny kidnapper. But he appeared to be ignoring her as he fiddled with the odd bits on the round thing in the middle of the room.

Fine, then. Even if he wasn’t listening, that didn’t mean she was going to stop by any means.

She took the chance to take in the room around her, and felt a rush of relief when she noticed the doors. She hurried over to them, only to hear the skinny bloke apparently decide to pay attention to her once again, since he yelled urgently, “No, wait a minute! Wait a minute! Don’t!”

But she threw the doors open anyways, only to freeze in shock as instead of seeing a scene that at least looked like Earth, she saw a beautiful, colorful sight that she couldn’t begin to put into words. It was like nothing she’d ever seen. She felt her mouth open slightly, but closed it again as the ignorant kidnapper stopped to stand next to her in the open doorway.

The Doctor leaned against the doorway opposite the ginger woman as they stared out at the super nova that he and Rose had been admiring barely an hour ago. “You’re in space. Outer Space,” He explained. “This is my space-ship.” He winced a little at that, she was more than just a space-ship, but he doubted the woman would understand. “It’s called the ‘TARDIS.’”

She took a moment to let that sink in, and then asked quietly, “How am I breathing?”

“The TARDIS is protecting us,” He replied, as if that explained everything.

The woman shook her head. This had to be the strangest thing that had ever happened to her. “Who are you?”

“I’m the Doctor.” He replied. Just a bottle of confusion and mystery this one was, what kind of name was the Doctor? “You?”

“Donna.”

The so called ‘Doctor’ looked her up and down, as if judging her some way. Finally he said, “Human?”

Donna tried really hard not to blink at him, or to ask if he was slow. “Yeah,” she managed to say. “Is that optional?” The woman asked, not really wanting the answer.

But he shrugged and said, quite easily, “well, it is for me.”

That should have surprised her or upset her or at least done something to her, but with everything that had happened in the past few minutes, Donna didn’t think anything could surprise her any more. “You’re an alien,” She stated, as if it was everyday that she met or was kidnapped by an alien.

“Yeah.” The so-named alien said, with the same annoying easiness.

Donna was silent then, and the Doctor didn’t seem to have anything to say either.

After a moment she said, “it’s freezing with these doors open,” as if they were merely discussing the weather in Chiswick.

Before she could close them herself, the Doctor slammed them shut in front of her, and then quickly turned and hurried back with more energy than she thought was necessary to the object in the middle of the room he’d been fiddling with earlier.

The Doctor darted to the console, insistent on finding out just how this woman, Donna, had managed to appear in the TARDIS. As usual he began puzzling the facts out loud, as this seemed to help him think in this regeneration. “But I don’t understand it and I understand everything! This, this can’t happen!” He protested to Donna and to the room at large. “There is no way human being can lock itself onto the TARDIS and transport itself inside. It must be…”

Realizing that it would be more practical to study her and get observations than just talking out loud to himself, he grabbed an ophthalmoscope and hurried over to stop right in front of Donna. He fiddled with it a little and then held it up to use it to look into Donna’s eyes, all the while muttering to himself as he continued to try to work this out. It was rather nice that while he did this, Donna didn’t complain or really seem to react at all- unlike some people he could name who would have.

 

 

 

 

“Impossible. Some sort of subatomic connection? Something in the temporal field? Maybe something pulling you into alignment with the Chronon shell. Maybe something macro mining you DNA within the interior matrix. Maybe a genetic-“

Donna was willing to put up with his rambling to a point. But when he began examining her like a bloody lab rat all the while saying things that meant absolutely nothing to her and wasn’t helpful at all, she had had enough.

So, she slapped him.

The Doctor froze, staring at her as he held his hand against his wounded cheek. She wasn’t going to turn out to be another Jackie Tyler, was she? Because he had had quite enough with people slapping him in the regeneration, thanks. He was also fairly sure that he could hear the TARDIS laughing at him. “What was that for?” He accused Donna indignantly.

She just glared at him and yelled, as if they had skipped back to a few minutes ago when they were yelling at each other, “get me to the church!”

He glared back at her for several seconds before finally he dropped the instruments and once again went back to the console. “Right! Fine! You have places to be, people to meet,” the Doctor hesitated with his hands on the controls, “where is this wedding?”

“Saint Mary’s, Hayden Road, Chiswick, London, England, Earth, the Solar System!” Donna informed him, going a little overboard with her explanation.

Before he could explain that he knew very well where London was, thanks, a new voice spoke into the tense silence he and Donna had fallen into.

“Doctor? Thought I heard yelling,” Rose’s voice asked sounding puzzled, but also worried.

He turned in the direction of her voice to see Rose standing in the doorway of the inner hallway. She was biting her lip, looking mostly at him, but every once in a while her gaze wandered in Donna’s direction.

The Doctor hurried over to her, grinning as he grabbed her hand. “Rose, come meet our unexpected guest.”

He led her over to where Donna was still standing, looking confused. “Rose Tyler, this is Donna. She appeared in the TARDIS a while ago. Just out of the blue really. I was in here minding my own business when all of a sudden, poof, there she was.”

Rose looked skeptically at him. “Poof?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

The Doctor frowned, shrugging. “Well, maybe not poof. But it wasn’t really a bam, or a boom.” He ran a hand through his hair, “there wasn’t any noise really, actually. She kind of just spontaneously appeared.”

Donna loudly cleared her throat. “I hate to break up your fascinating discussion of just what sound I made when I appeared in this thing you call a space ship. But, as you might remember, there’s a wedding I need to be getting to!”

Rose turned to her, looking suddenly enlightened. “Oh, that’s why you’re wearing a wedding dress then. Thought it was just for fancy dress or something.” She gently nudged the Doctor who looked amused.

“No, not fancy dress,” Donna corrected her, “I was at a wedding, my _wedding_ , and halfway up the aisle when this skinny alien nothing decided to kidnap me,” she said with an accusing gesture at the Doctor.

“I told you, I didn’t kidnap you!” The Doctor protested, rolling his eyes. “You just appeared in here for some impossible reason.”

Rose laughed and said mockingly, “You, the great Doctor don’t know something? Well, this’ll be a first.”

“It’s not that I don’t know Rose,” the Doctor insisted, most definitely not pouting. “It’s that I don’t know quite _yet_.”

Rose didn’t say any more, but she did smile and nod at him.

Donna cleared her throat yet again. “’Scuse me, little thing you two seem to be forgetting here. Bride, in her wedding dress,” she gestured at the dress she was wearing, “Who needs to be getting to her wedding so she can get married!”

The Doctor raised his hand to wiggle a finger in his ear at the high pitch her voice had achieved as she’d yelled at them.

“I don’t think you’ll let us forget that anytime soon,” he told her.

Rose swatted him lightly on the arm, “Hush, you. Come on, we better get her to her wedding.”

After a moment’s pause, he nodded. “Right, course,” he agreed, hurrying to the console to begin setting the controls to take them back to Earth. “You have to be getting married,” the Doctor added in a quieter voice, “I pity the man who marries you though.”

Rose, who had apparently come up next to him, said warningly, “Doctor...”

He continued setting the controls, and then, as the time rotor began moving, turned to look at her with as innocent a look as he could manage. “What? Being rude again?”

 In return she gave him a look that said he knew fully well what she meant.

“Right, sorry,” he said finally with a cough, “but, even if I am being rude, we now have ginger as well. And believe me, she can be just as rude.”

 “Doctor!” Rose warned him once more, sighing. “Doesn’t matter if we have rude and actually ginger now.”

He turned to look at her when suddenly Donna began laughing, “Good to see you have someone to keep you in line, Doctor. Even skinny alien kidnappers need to have a woman around.”

Before the Doctor could protest that he was focused just fine, or that he didn’t kidnap her, the time rotor stopped moving and they landed with only a little of an upset.

He flicked a few final switches and then announced, “Well, here we are. Saint Mary’s, Hayden Road, Chiswick, London, England, Earth, the Solar System, just as requested.”

The Doctor glanced at the two women to see if either of them were impressed that he managed to remember all that, but Rose seemed to have decided to ignore him, and Donna was already rushing to the doors looking quite relieved.

He frowned, watching as his temporary passenger pushed open one of the doors and slipped out into Chiswick. “Could’ve at least said thank you,” he muttered to himself.

“Think she’s a bit preoccupied about her wedding Doctor.” Rose informed him, “Every girl’s dream and all,” then she gave him that look and had her tongue between her teeth as she teased, “And you did kidnap her.”

“I didn’t kidnap-!” When the Doctor realized that she was just riling him up, he shook his head at her. “Really Rose Tyler, so rude. Anyone would think I’ve been a bad influence on you.”

“You mean you haven’t?” She asked innocently, and then laughed at the look on his face. “Come on,” she invited, taking his hand, “we might as well go see that she gets to her wedding.”

The Doctor winced, but still let her lead him outside. “You mean we actually have to go? Rose, you know I don’t do weddings.”

“We don’t have to stay, Doctor,” Rose corrected him as they stepped out the doors, “just help her get there…”

She drifted off when she saw Donna standing just outside in what seemed to be an alleyway, staring.

“Donna?” Rose called, letting go of the Doctor’s hand to walk over towards the other woman. “You all right?”

Rose’s voice seemed to shake Donna out of her reverie, because she turned and looked accusingly at the Doctor, “I said ‘Saint Mary’s.’ What sort of Martian are you? Where’s this?”

Rose snickered at Donna calling the Doctor a Martian, but she glanced around the alleyway and realized that Donna was right. This definitely wasn’t anywhere near a church. It looked like the alleyway actually led out into a shopping district of some sort instead.

When she turned back, the Doctor was stroking the side of the TARDIS looking concerned, and muttering to himself before finally dashing back inside.

Donna seemed to have gotten over her annoyance that this wasn’t actually the church, because now she was looking awe-struck at the outside of the TARDIS.

Rose frowned, what was she-? Oh. The other woman was just now seeing what the TARDIS actually looked like wasn’t she? And the Doctor probably hadn’t gotten the chance to give his ‘yes, it’s bigger on the inside’ speech either. He was probably silently moping about that.

She walked over and rested her hand gently on Donna’s bare shoulder. “Know this isn’t really a good time to be asking, but you all right?”

Donna turned towards her, eyes still wide. “It’s… it’s bigger on the inside. It’s a regular police box, and it’s bigger on the inside.”

Rose tried not to laugh, she really did. “Yeah, she is. It’s something to do with… multiple dimensions or something. Don’t ask him to explain, he’ll just tell you nonsense. But, she really is a space ship.”

“Right,” Donna managed to say, but didn’t look completely reassured.

They stood in silence for a while before the Doctor’s voice suddenly began talking to them from inside the TARDIS.

“Donna? You’ve really gotta think. Is there anything that might’ve caused this?” He paused, and some clunking noises could be heard from inside. But he soon started up again, “Anything you might've done? Any sort of alien contacts? I can't let you go wandering off in case you're dangerous. I mean, have you... have you seen lights in the sky? Or... did you touch something? Something-- something different? Something strange? Something made out of a sort of metal or... who're you getting married to?”

Rose was half tempted to go inside and tell him that he wasn’t really helping the situation, but then she realized they were probably just better off letting him try to figure it out on his own. Even if that meant having to listen to him ask odd questions or talk to himself.

Donna meanwhile seemed to be stunned into silence, and an inability to say anything.

Unaware of what was happening outside, the Doctor continued on, “Are you sure he's human? He's not a bit overweight with a zip around his forehead, is he?”

“Doctor!” Rose called in protest. “Pretty sure it’s not the Slitheen again.”

She wasn’t sure he heard her, there was a bit of banging going on now, but then she heard him reply, “Never can be too careful Rose.”

Rose rolled her eyes. Not with him you couldn’t.

The complete strangeness of the situation she had found herself in, when all she had planned when she’d gotten up this morning was to get married finally caught up to Donna, and she spun around and began hurrying down the alley.

Rose turned as Donna rushed past her, quickly realizing just what the other woman was up to. “Donna!” She called worriedly, and then turned and called in the direction of the TARDIS, “Doctor!” Then, when he didn’t respond, she said louder, “Doctor! You need to get out here now!”

“Bit busy at the moment, Rose!” He called back to her, his voice muffled slightly.

Donna was almost at the mouth of the alleyway now. “Well, stop being busy cause your ginger hostage is currently escaping!”

A loud thunk came from inside the TARDIS then, followed by a muffle curse before she heard his shoes clanging against the metal grating as he came running outside.

He turned towards her and asked hurriedly, “Where is she?”

But before Rose could reply, he had apparently spotted Donna’s white-clad form near the mouth of the alleyway because he was off like a shot, calling the ginger-haired woman’s name.

Rose sighed and ran after them, glad that she had decided to put on shoes before wandering to the console room, and good running ones at that. It was ridiculous just how much running she did with the Doctor.

 


	2. Chapter 2

She caught up with the mismatched duo just as the Doctor was trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to convince Donna to come back to the TARDIS. He had been trying to persuade her, but Donna had just replied that the box, or the TARDIS, was too weird.

Rose was about to say that she hadn’t seen anything yet, when the Doctor replied unthinkingly, “It’s… bigger on the inside, that’s all.”

You would think that after his centuries of experience he would understand that not everyone would be uncomfortable with the idea of a space ship with countless rooms could fit inside an ordinary-looking police box… but apparently not. Sometimes he could be so thick.

“Doctor, not everyone’s-” she began, but Donna beat her to replying.

“Oh! That’s all?” She said with a laugh, sounding almost on the edge of a break down. Donna glanced down at her watch then, and commented, sounding choked up, “Ten past three. I’m gonna miss it.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Rose tried to reassure the other woman, “we’ll make it.”

The Doctor, surprisingly the practical one, said, “You could phone them. Tell them where you are.”

This from the man who had once brought her home one month late and disliked being tied down with such things as mobiles, Rose thought amused.

But Donna, who was unaware of this, turned towards him looking skeptical. “How do I do that?”

The Doctor blinked at her, as if she’d asked something completely ridiculous. “Haven’t you got a mobile?”

Rose was really tempted to bang her head against something hard now. Just how’d he think Donna had a mobile when she was in her wedding dress? Brides usually didn’t need their mobiles handy during their wedding.

Donna stopped still then as if she’d been struck, her eyes wide and incredulous. “I’m in my wedding dress,” she said slowly, as if he was having trouble understanding her. “It doesn’t have pockets. Who has pockets? Have you ever seen a bride with pockets?” Donna’s voice rose rapidly as she continued until she was practically yelling at him. “When I went to my fitting, do you think I said, ‘Alison, the one thing I forgot to say is give me pockets’?!”

The Doctor gaped at her for several moments, which Rose was quite happy to see since usually she was the only one who could affect him like that. But finally he seemed to get his mind back on track enough to make an attempt to change the subject.

“This man you’re marrying, what’s his name?”

Donna stopped looking enraged in time to say, beaming, “Lance.”

“Gotta like a Lance,” The Doctor commented, in what was probably an attempt to get back on her good side.

Rose smiled, “Lance’s a good name,” She turned to look sternly at the Doctor, “and don’t you dare make a joke of it.”

“I wasn’t going to!” The Doctor protested weakly.

 The moment seemed to die then at their interruption, because Donna whirled on the Doctor again to yell, “Oi! No stupid Martian is gonna stop me from getting married. To hell with you!”

 She then proceeded to run off and away from them.

Rose and the Doctor stared after her for a few moments, until Rose gathered herself together enough to begin running after Donna.

After a few steps she turned around to chide the Doctor, “Well, come on then Martian boy. We can’t just leave her on her own!”

“Rose!” The Doctor protested in what was definitely not a whiny tone. But before he could say anything else, she was hurrying after Donna again. He sighed and said feebly, “I’m not… I’m not from Mars!” before running after the two women.

He caught up to them a few minutes later, to find them running up and down a very busy street, shouting for a taxi.

That was how they were trying to get a taxi? They wouldn’t get anyone to pay attention to them at this rate.

But he joined them anyways, running about shouting at the cabs driving by while everyone else stared at them.

All of the taxi’s ignored them however, even when they accidently stumbled into the street in their effort to catch the attention of one particular driver, who ended up just driving straight past them anyways.

“Oi!” Donna shouted at it, but the driver didn’t seem to hear her so he just directed her towards another cab.

Rose, who was closer to it, ran at the cab, waving her arms, only for it to completely ignore her.

Confused, the three of them regrouped on the sidewalk where it was at least a little safer.

“Do you have this effect on everyone?” The Doctor asked her, only for Rose to jab in the side. “I was only asking!”

Rose shook her head, “I don’t get it, why aren’t they stopping?”

“They think I’m in fancy dress,” Donna commented after a moment’s pause.

Another taxi drove past them just then, hooting his horn. “Stay off the scotch darlin’!”

Donna looked flustered, “They think I drunk.”

Next, two guys in their car yelled out the window as they drove past. “You’re fooling no-one mate!”

Donna looked shocked. “They think I’m in drag!” She announced.

Despite himself, the Doctor looked Donna up and down appraisingly, as if he wasn’t quite certain.

“Course they don’t!” Rose protested, not even believing that for a second. The other woman looked absolutely amazing in her wedding dress; she was the picture of a beautiful bride.

The Doctor suddenly had an idea of what they could do. “Hold on, hold on,” he told them, and then put his fingers between his lips and whistled long and piercing in a way that he had long since perfected.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Rose wince and Donna cover her ears while glaring at him. Actually, most of the people on the street were glaring at him. But, it had managed to attract the attention of a taxi which grinded to a halt right in front of him.

Trading a triumphant look with each other, the three of them walked towards the taxi and clambered into the back seat together.

As soon as she was settled, Donna began to instruct the driver, “Saint Mary’s in Chiswick, just off Hayden Road. It’s an emergency, I’m getting married! Just… hurry up!”

Rose and the Doctor traded a look with each other, but were interrupted by the driver telling her, “You know it’ll cost you, sweetheart? Double rates today.”

Donna stared at him. “Oh, my god!” She turned towards the Doctor, “Have you got any money?”

He leaned around Rose to look at her, “Um, no. And you?”

“Pockets!” Donna snapped, violently gesturing at her dress.

“Pockets, but no money,” Rose told them with a shrug when they both turned towards her.

The taxi screeched to a halt then, and the driver began insulting them while at the same time ordering them to get out.

The three of them clambered back out of the taxi then and onto the street not too far away from where they had started.

The Doctor slammed the door behind them, while Donna leaned in towards the taxi to yell at the driver, “And that goes double for your mother!”

After yelling something back at her that luckily none of them could hear, the driver sped off again.

As they made their way back to the sidewalk, Donna ranted, “I’ll have him. I’ve got this number. Talk about the Christmas spirit.”

The Doctor glanced around them at all the decorations around the stores that he hadn’t noticed until now. “Is it Christmas?”

“No, Doctor. The decorations are just there to confuse people,” Rose teased. It was fun sometimes to give him a hard time when he was being so thick-headed about some human customs, especially when he claimed he had spent so much time on Earth.

“Well, duh,” Donna said, adding her two cents in, “maybe not on Mars, but here it’s Christmas Eve.” She had been glancing around as she spoke, and suddenly hit him on the arm, having spotted something not too far away. “Phone box!” She announced, and then began running towards it.

The Doctor and Rose hurried after Donna, who could run fairly fast considering she was in a wedding dress and heels, to catch up to her right outside the phone box.

“We can reverse the charges!” Rose suggested as they attempted to all cram inside the small space.

“How come you’re getting married on Christmas Eve?” The Doctor asked Donna, standing just outside the box while Rose and Donna stood inside.

“Can’t bear it. I hate Christmas. Honeymoon in Morocco. Sunshine, lovely,” Donna told him, picking up the receiver. She stared at it for a few minutes before turning to them. “What’s the operator? I’ve not done this in years. What do you dial? 100?”

Rose shook her head. “I dunno, haven’t used one in a while.” She scrunched up her face, thinking back,, “might be right though.”

The Doctor, who had been rummaging in his pockets, pulled out his sonic screwdriver and held it up towards the phone. “Just call the direct.”

Donna stared at him, and then started when the dial tone buzzed on the end of the receiver. “What did you do?” She demanded of him.

He wasn’t paying attention to her, but was looking around instead. “Something, Martian,” He explained distractedly.

“Should stop using your sonic screwdriver for everything,” Rose chided him. “You have to do things the regular way sometimes Doctor, not the… Martian way.” She couldn’t help but grin at him as she said the word ‘Martian.’ It amused her every time Donna called him a Martian.

The Doctor gave her a warning look, but instead he rushed away and sprinted to the nearest cash machine.

While he was gone, Rose turned to Donna. “Don’t worry. It’s just a, tool he has. Opens everything but deadlocks, and wooden doors. But it comes in handy,” she found herself smiling, “even to put up shelves.”

Donna just stared at her. “Shelves? What does a sonic screwdriver have to do with putting up shelves?”

Rose shook her head, “Never mind. It, it was just a joke.”

Before Donna could even try to respond to that, the phone began ringing in her ear. She waited for someone to pick up, but instead it just kept ringing. “Ooh, answer the phone!”

Finally the phone clicked off into voicemail, and Donna said agitatedly, “Mum, get off the phone and listen. I’m in-“ Suddenly realizing that she didn’t really know just where she was calling from, she turned around to study the street. “Do you know where we are?” Donna whispered urgently to Rose, but Rose could only shake her head. So Donna held the phone back up to her ear as she said, disturbed, “I dunno where I am! It’s, it’s a street. And there’s a WH Smith… but it’s definitely Earth…”

She trailed off when the phone beeped at her and suddenly went dead. “Well, that’s that then,” Donna said, hanging the phone up as she turned to Rose. “What do we do now?”

Rose frowned, glancing in the direction the Doctor had run off in to see him standing over a cash machine and pointing what looked like his sonic screwdriver at it. She sighed; really, men and their toys. “Well, looks like the Doctor’s trying to get us money, but I dunno if…” Rose trailed off as Donna pushed past her out of the phone box and rushed up to a random woman on the street. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it looked like Donna was trying to get the woman to let her borrow some money.

Keeping an eye on Donna, Rose looked over towards the Doctor to see him looking at her as he yelled her name. She turned in the direction he was pointing, to see… Rose groaned. It had to be the robot Santa’s, didn’t it? Couldn’t the universe be original anymore? And the Santa’s were even playing trumpets again.

Rose began to walk towards the Santa’s, weaving her way through the little traffic there was without getting run over. She was ignoring the Doctor’s yelling that she could barely hear over the din of the street, when she heard Donna’s voice yelling for a taxi.

She turned around in time to see a taxi pull up beside Donna on the other side of the street, and then saw her lean down to talk to the driver. Rose found it odd that she’d gotten a taxi so quickly, when they had had been so much trouble earlier.

 

As Rose watched, Donna turned around to shout to the Doctor, “Thanks for nothing, spaceman!” before she climbed into the back of the cab.

Rose was snickering quietly at ‘spaceman,’ Donna was wonderful at making up nicknames for the Doctor, when she caught sight of the driver as the taxi pulled away… a masked Santa.

Cursing quietly, Rose began rushing after the taxi, calling Donna’s name. But the taxi was soon out of sight down the street.

As she was standing on the edge of the sidewalk, Rose heard the Doctor yell her name again. She turned towards him to see him pointing at the Santa’s that were just a little ways ahead of them now, and turned as she realized that she couldn’t hear the trumpets playing any more.

When she was looking at them again, Rose saw that the Santa’s had indeed stopped playing, and were now holding the trumpets just like they had that cold Christmas night when she and Mickey had been out shopping. Rose looked around her, trying to find anything that she could use to try and distract them.

“Oi! Santa’s!” The Doctor’s voice called, and Rose and the Santa’s turned to see the Doctor still standing at the cash machine, his sonic pointed at the machine. There was the usual whirring noise of the sonic screwdriver then, and suddenly the machine was spurting cash up into the air. People nearby tried to catch the money and stuff it into their pockets, creating a mad scramble and confusion as they gathered in a group on the sidewalk near the machine.

Rose stood smiling at the scene, thinking that maybe the sonic was good for some things. When she felt someone tap her shoulder, she looked up to see the Doctor smiling at her.

“Crisis averted, for now,” he announced, taking her hand. “Now, let’s go rescue our troublesome rude and ginger bride.”

Rose laughed. “Thought you were the rude one and she was the ginger one,” She commented, but he was pulling her up the sidewalk then, away from the crowd and back towards where they’d left the TARDIS.

~~~~~

Safe in the taxi and away from the skinny alien kidnapper and his friendly blonde… something, Donna sighed and relaxed back on to the backseat of the taxi.

“I promise you, mate—I’ll give you the rest when we get there,” She reassured the taxi driver, then began fiddling with her clothes. “Oh, I look a mess,” Donna complained, wincing as she took her veil off as she tried to catch her breath. “Hurry up!” She demanded annoyed, fiddling impatiently on the seat. She’d better get to her wedding at least a little after she was supposed to, because her and Lance were going to be married today if she had anything to do with it. It was all that aliens fault she’d be late, especially for her own wedding.

They’d been driving for a while, close to the motorway now, when Donna saw the sign that said it was the turn off for Chiswhick. She expected the driver to take it, but instead he just continued driving as if he hadn’t seen it at all.

“Hold on a minute, I said ‘Chiswick,’” She reminded him, tapping the edge of the front seat. “You missed the turning.”

The driver still continued on, obviously ignoring her. “’Scuse me!” Donna said, getting annoyed. “We should’ve turned off back there. We’re going the wrong way!” She protested angrily. Really, could this day get any worse? Now she was definitely going to be late for the wedding!

~~~~

Back inside the TARDIS, the Doctor was dancing around the console, trying to get her working despite her apparent illness of some sort. She hadn’t been very inclined to help, so he had to use his fists and the hammer to convince her to fly. He knew that it wasn’t good for her, that it would probably hurt her even more in the long run, but right now they needed to rescue Donna from the robot Santa’s.

The Doctor quietly sighed. It just had to be the robot Santa’s again, they couldn’t leave him alone.

“Doctor? We’re going to get Donna right?” Rose’s voice asked from nearby, interrupting his thoughts. “We’re not just going to leave her with the Santa’s?”

He paused momentarily in his dance of setting the controls to turn to her. “Course not! I can’t believe you’d think that of me Rose.” The Doctor protested, shaking his head at her.

As she laughed at him, he flicked one last control and smiled when the time rotor began moving above them. “And we’re off!”

“Hadn’t noticed,” Rose teased him. Then she paused, and tried really hard not to laugh, “But, robot Santa’s?”

He laughed. “I know! And I can’t believe they returned just to kidnap Donna, seems a bit ridiculous doesn’t it?”

“Doctor,” Rose chided him, but knew it was no use to tell him he was being rude. He was probably doing it just to annoy her. “Let’s just go get her before the robot Santa’s do something, yeah?”

“Right,” the Doctor agreed, and moved over towards the monitor so he could track the taxi to see just what was happening to the ginger bride.

~~~~

The taxi had joined the motorway now, cutting across all the other lanes of traffic as it moved towards one of the outside lanes. The other drivers honked their horns angrily and shouted most likely rude things at their cab, but the driver still paid no attention to them and just continued driving.

Donna moved up to the edge of the seat to yell at the driver in an attempt to get his attention. Was this idiot deaf or something? “What the hell are you doing?” She demanded angrily. “I'm late for the wedding, my own wedding. Do you get that?” When he still didn’t respond, she yelled, slamming her hand on the back of the seat. “Turn around! Turn this cab around right now! Are you deaf or what?”

With an annoyed yell, Donna lunged forward to pull the Santa hood off of the driver’s head. As it fell off, a mask-like thing fell off at the same time, and Donna collapsed back onto the seat as she stared in shock at the thing that was sitting in the driver’s seat. It definitely wasn’t human; it actually looked more like a robot. But no robot she’d ever seen.

When she was finally able to speak again, Donna found herself whispering, “Oh, my God!”

She lunged for the door and window, but all of them were locked, cutting off her escape route. So she was locked inside a taxi, with a robot driving her to God knows where. Even though she knew they were locked, she still tried frantically to open them. “Help me! Help me!” Donna begged anyone who could hear her. She banged on the glass of the window, “Help me! Help me!”

A man driving by in a red van noticed her franticness, and for a second she thought that he might help her since he looked concerned. But instead he just shrugged helplessly and continued driving.

Donna glared at him, and continued banging on the window. “Help me! Help me! Get me out! Help me! I'm being driven by a robot!”

~~~~~

In the TARDIS, as they rematerialized above the motorway that Donna was currently being driven down, sparks began flying from the console as she tilted dangerously.

“Behave!” The Doctor insisted, running around as he tried to get her to follow Donna.

Holding tightly onto the railing as a way of keeping upright, Rose shook her head at him. “That’s not going to work Doctor. You need to sweet talk a girl, not hit her with a mallet.”

“I’m trying to rescue a bride in distress here, Rose!” He called, still fiddling with the console, “don’t really have time for sweet talk!”

Rose rolled her eyes, “Right, course. And you’re so good at it too. While a rescue requires abusing the TARDIS.” She said quietly to herself.

The Doctor didn’t seem to hear.

~~~

Sitting sideways in the back seat and staring out the back window, Donna stared as the blue box appeared in the sky just above her taxi, spinning in the air. She felt her jaw drop open as she watched it come closer to her, “… You are _kidding_ me.”

~~~

As Rose watched, still holding onto the railing since the TARDIS still seemed to be protesting the Doctor’s driving, the Doctor maneuvered the TARDIS until she was moving right along next to Donna’s taxi as it drove down the motorway.

“What are you doing Doctor?” Rose asked confused, beginning to carefully walk towards him.

In the middle of fiddling with the controls, the Doctor paused to turn and look at her. “Rescuing a bride in distress, Rose!” He called back. “Now come over here, I need your help!”

Rose rolled her eyes, but walked over until she was standing next to him. “What do you need?”

“Keep your hands on these controls,” he told her, pointing them out to her, “and keep your eyes on these ones,” The Doctor added, pointing those out as well. “I’m depending on you to keep her right where I need her, Rose. If any of them change, tell me right away.” He leaned over and rested his hand on her shoulder. “Can you do that?”

Rose stepped up to the console and poised her hands over the first set of controls he had pointed out to her, “Course I can!”

He smiled at her and kissed her lightly on the cheek before moving towards the doors and throwing them open. Just as he had thought, the TARDIS was right in line with the taxi, and he could see Donna staring at him on the other side of the window with her hands pressed up against the glass.

“Open the door!” The Doctor yelled at her, ignoring Rose’s scoff of disbelief from behind him.

But Donna didn’t seem to be able to hear him through the window, because she asked, “do you what?”

“Open the door!” He yelled again, saying it louder this time to make sure she heard him this time.

“I can’t! It’s locked!” Donna yelled back at him, shaking her head as she pointed at the lock.

With a sigh, the Doctor pulled the sonic out of his pocket and aimed it at the window.

She pushed it down, and told him, as if he didn’t already know, “Santa’s a robot!”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, I know. Now open the door!”

Donna proceeded to just stare at him. “What for?” She demanded shrilly.

“You’ve got to jump!” He told her, glancing back at Rose to see if she was doing all right. When she nodded at him, he turned back to Donna just in time to see the robot turn its head slightly at his announcement.

If possible, Donna was now staring at him even more so that she was practically gaping at him. “I'm not bleedin' jumping! I'm supposed to be getting married!” Donna yelled shrilly.

Before the Doctor could say anything, the taxi began moving faster down the motorway ahead of them. “Oh come on!” He protested half to himself, and darted back to the console. With Rose’s help, they got the TARDIS moving again, but misjudged a little as the TARDIS hit the top of the car that was now right across from them. With a few adjustments, the TARDIS was level with the taxi again, and the Doctor ran back towards the doorway.

He aimed his sonic at the robot still driving the taxi and quickly disabled it.

“Listen to me, you’ve got to jump!” The Doctor told Donna, who stared at him again.

“I’m not jumping on a motorway!” Donna protested stubbornly, shaking her head vigorously at him.

He sighed, and he thought Rose could be obstinate sometimes. “Whatever that thing is, it needs you. And whatever it needs you for, it's not good,” he warned her, gesturing at the robot driver, “now come on!”

Donna proceeded to yell just as loudly back. “I’m in my wedding dress!” She told him, as if he hadn’t noticed by now.

The Doctor shook his head, this was getting ridiculous. **“** Yes, you look lovely. Now, come on!”

Looking terrified, Donna opened the door of the taxi and positioned herself to jump. The Doctor held his arms out to her, ready to catch her, but she hesitated, shaking her head. “I can’t do it,” She told him.

“Just trust me,” he reassured her, still holding his hands out. The TARDIS wasn’t going to be able to take this for much longer; she wasn’t really made to fly like this. And now that he had disabled the robot Santa, it was important that he got her out of there while he could.

As Donna readied herself to jump, there were some not good sounding explosions from the console behind him, and he heard Rose calling his name.

“Donna, please! You have to jump now!” He told her, still holding out his arms.

She looked like she was going to refuse or protest again for a minute, but then she nodded and with a scream jumped towards him. 

 


	3. Chapter 3

 

He managed to catch her as he’d said, but then overbalanced and fell backwards, causing the two of them to land in a heap on the floor.

“Oi! Hands off!” Donna demanded, scrambling off of him and to her feet. She nearly fell back out the open doors, but he had managed to stand up by then, and was able to pull her back inside.

Once she was safe, he walked around her and closed the doors behind them before bounding to the console.

Just as he feared, the console was in a fairly bad shape. She was still sparking, and smoke was leaking from several places. Rose was just barely holding onto the controls, but she released them as soon as he came over and began rapidly flapping her hands in the air.

Instead of going to the controls, the Doctor rushed over to Rose, her weird flapping having caught his eye. “Rose? What’s wrong?” He asked worriedly, gently taking her hands in his and turning them over so they were palm-up.

Rose winced at his touch, but then sighed and relaxed slightly.

But before she could tell him, as soon as he saw her palms, he knew. “Oh, Rose,” he whispered softly, lightly running his fingers over the small round burnt area on each of her hands.

“It’s okay,” Rose whispered softly, but she was wincing as his cool fingers brushed against her skin.

He pulled his hands back so he could look at her fingers, and sighed when he saw that several of them had painful looking blisters on them. “I’m sorry, Rose. You were hurt because of something I asked you to do.”

Rose shook her head, pulling her hands away from him. “I’m fine, Doctor. It wasn’t your fault. I’ll just go find something in the med bay, yeah?” She asked, attempting a smile before beginning to walk away.

“Rose, wait!” He quickly called after her, digging rapidly in his pockets. As Rose turned back to give him a questioning look, the Doctor pulled out first a roll of gauze, and then a small tube of some kind.

At the random appearance of gauze and cream from his pockets of all places, although, knowing the Doctor he would randomly keep such things in his pockets, Rose blinked and asked incredulously, “What, you’ve just been carrying that around in your pockets all the time? What else do you keep in there I don’t know about?”

When he just looked at her defensively, Rose walked back to him and reached for the gauze and cream. But before he handed it over, he said, “This cream will help heal those hands up nice and quick. Put the cream on first, and then the wrap the gauze over it, all right? I want to see those hands all pink and gorgeous again soon.”

Rose nodded. “I do know how to take care of myself, Doctor.” She said, taking the cream and gauze from him. Rose cautiously unscrewed the top of the cream, and squeezed a little out onto her palm.

“Rose,” The Doctor began to protest, but when she just grinned at him he couldn’t help but smile back at her. He gently took one of her hands and raised it up to his lips to kiss it lightly before grinning and moving to the console.

Once he was at the console, he began setting the controls for them to dematerialize. He only hoped that the TARDIS had enough left in her to make this trip. “Just one more time, old girl,” he reassured her softly as he worked, “please.”

Donna, who had come over to them, apparently heard him, because she turned to Rose and asked, “Does he usually talk to this ship?”

Rose looked up from where she had just finished wrapping one of her hands and was moving onto the other, and said to Donna, “Sometimes yeah,” She admitted. “But most of the time you can just ignore him when he does. Just make sure not to insult the ship, that’ll get him upset in no time.”

Donna looked confused, but just nodded as she said, “Right.”

By that time the time rotor was moving above them, but the console was still dangerously smoking and emitting sparks.

“She won’t last long,” The Doctor told them worriedly, “Probably only has enough for one trip.”

Rose frowned, “What’re we going to do then?”

“We’ll have to land her somewhere; she won’t be able to go too far.” He told them, “I set the coordinates for a nearby roof.”

“What do you mean? What’s happening?” Donna demanded, crossing her arms.

The time rotor stopped moving, and the Doctor set a last few controls. “Just give us a second, Donna. She’s a little ill right now, so we need to land her somewhere.”

“Ill? Your ship is ill?” Donna asked confused.

He shook his head, holding onto the console as the TARDIS landed roughly on the roof.

“She’s been through a lot lately,” Rose told Donna gently, tucking the mostly used gauze and cream into her pocket, “I think she just needs to rest.”

Donna still looked confused, but was stopped from asking anything else when the console suddenly emitted a loud bang and began smoking heavily.

Coughing, Rose grabbed Donna’s hand and led her to the doors which she threw open and rushed out of, pulling Donna along.

They sat down on the rough surface of the roof, Donna not minding what damage it would do to her dress. She looked at her watch then, and sighed as she saw the time displayed there.

“Half past three,” Donna whispered with a sigh, relaxing slightly.

Rose smiled sympathetically at her, “sorry.”

Donna shook her head.

Before either of them could make another attempt at conversation, the Doctor joined them. He was coughing and spluttering slightly as he aimed a fire extinguisher he’d found somewhere at the smoke billowing out of the TARDIS.

“The funny thing is,” He began, sitting down next to them. “For a spaceship, she doesn't really do that much flying.” The Doctor admitted with a smile. “We'd better give her a couple of hours.” After a slight pause, he finally asked, glancing over at Donna, “You all right?”

Donna shrugged, hanging her head, “doesn’t matter.”

“Yeah, it does Donna, it really does,” Rose gently corrected her. “And don’t listen to Mr. I’m Always All Right over there.”

“Rose!” The Doctor protested, but neither of the women were listening to him.

Rose moved over until she was sitting right next to Donna.

“So we missed it then,” She said softly.

Donna nodded, “Yeah.”

Deaf as usual to these types of things, the Doctor suggested lightly, “Well, you can book another date…”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Doctor, it doesn’t work like that. The date’s special, you always remember it.”

Donna shook her head, “Its fine really, we could find another date.” She sighed, “Just won’t be the same, not really…”

“Still got the honeymoon,” The Doctor added, as if he were off the hook now. He really didn’t understand why getting married was such a big deal.

 “It’s just a holiday now,” Donna replied, leaning forward to wrap her arms around her legs.

Rose glanced over at the Doctor in time to see him wince at that. Ah ha.

“Yeah…. Yeah….” He replied, looking apologetic, “sorry.”

Donna, who had apparently changed her mind from earlier when she was accusing the Doctor of kidnapping her, said, “It’s not your fault.”

The Doctor’s face screwed up in a comedic way then, and Rose snickered quietly. “Oh, that’s a change!” He commented looking at Donna, “Thought you were going to have my head before.”

Donna smiled at that, but the three of them fell into silence when they found they didn’t really have anything to do say.

She was the one to break the silence a little later when she said reflectively, “Wish we had a time machine. Then we could go back and get it right.”

The Doctor and Rose looked over her head at each other as she said that, making pained faces at each other. Rose tried to indicate to him that she thought that they should tell her, but he just kept vigorously shaking his head at her in denial.

Finally, Rose gave up and leaned forward to rest her head on her bent knees.

She heard the Doctor reply “Yeah, yeah.” Then he paused before continuing, “But… even if I did, I couldn’t go back on someone’s personal timeline.”

Rose raised her head to say that that kind of gave it away anyways, but before she could, he added, with a sort of sniff, “apparently.”

So he was trying to pretend like he’d just read it in a book somewhere? Rose seriously doubted that Donna would believe that, and she was proved when Donna looked at him suspiciously before she stood up and walked towards the edge of the roof.

“Apparently?” Rose hissed at the Doctor, leaning over towards him. “Cause everyone knows you can’t do that.”

“I had to say something, Rose!” He whispered loudly back, also leaning in towards her. “If she knows we could go back, then she’ll want us to and you know we can’t do that.”

Rose sighed, “I know we can’t Doctor, but what does it matter if she does? You won’t let her anyways.”

“That’s different Rose,” The Doctor protested.

She scoffed lightly, “Course it is.” Rose turned her head to look over where Donna had gone. The other woman was sitting on the edge of the roof, her arms wrapped around herself looking like she was freezing.

Rose gently prodded him in the side then. When he looked over at her curiously, she nodded her head in Donna’s direction. Looking confused, the Doctor turned towards the other woman, and then looked enlightened when he noticed Donna.

He slowly stood up, adjusting his coat. “Will you be all right?” The Doctor asked her quietly, and when she nodded in the affirmative he began walking over towards Donna.

Rose stayed where she was, watching as the Doctor removed his coat and draped it around the bride’s shoulders. He could be so sweet sometimes, and usually she wasn’t even sure if he knew he was doing it. But then other times he made sure she knew what he was doing.

Rose slowly stood up, brushing the bits of the roof off her clothes before she walked over to the edge of the roof and joined Donna and the Doctor.

She sat down on the edge of the roof next to Donna just in time to see the Doctor pull something that looked like a wedding band out of his pocket and hold it up to Donna.

“Oh, do you have to rub it in?” Donna protested with a noisy sigh.

Rose blinked, staring as the Doctor slowly slid it onto one of the fingers of the hand Donna had held up. “Is that a wedding ring? Where’d you get that?”

The Doctor shrugged, “It’s a bio-damper. Should keep you hidden Donna, since those creatures can trace you.” When the ring was on Donna’s finger, he returned his hands to gripping the edge of the roof on either side of him. But he smiled at Donna and announced, popping the ‘p,’ “With this ring, I thee bio-damp.”

Rose winced a little at that. It might help Donna stay safe, but did this bio-damp really have to be in the form of a wedding ring? Like Donna didn’t have enough things to remind her she wasn’t married yet.

But Donna didn’t seem to mind, because she said lightly, almost teasing, “For better or for worse?”

The Doctor smiled at her for that, and Rose found herself laughing. It seemed like being kidnapped twice in one day, even in the space of a few hours, hadn’t managed to discourage Donna. Rose thought that she really liked the other woman.

“So, come on then,” Donna said cheerfully, “Robot Santa’s, what’re they for?”

Apparently Donna had already discovered that a good way to distract the Doctor was to ask him a question that allowed himself to display his brilliance.

“Ah, your basic robo-scavenger,” he began to explain, obviously settling into his element. “The Father Christmas stuff is just a disguise. They’re trying to blend in.” He paused for barely a second before saying, “I met them last Christmas.”

“We did,” Rose corrected him, leaning back so she could see both of them, “And what fun that was. Mr. “It is Defended” here up on top of a space ship, Christmas morning, having a swordfight with an alien in his jim-jams.”

The Doctor turned to glare unthreateningly at her as he said, “Well, if I’d had something other than jim-jams to wear, I would’ve worn that! But seeing as jim-jams were the only thing available, and that robe with a satsuma in the pocket, a Satsuma! I didn’t have a lot of choice!”

Donna frowned, looking confused, “what spaceship? Here on Earth?”

They both turned to look at her.

“Yeah,” Rose agreed finally, “the great big one, hovering over London?”

The Doctor asked skeptically, “You didn’t notice?”

Donna shrugged dismissively. “I had a bit of a hangover.”

The Doctor and Rose just stared at her. How could she have missed the Sycorax spaceship hovering right over London? All the noise, the people under blood control? It couldn’t have been that easy to miss.

Finally the Doctor turned back to survey the view of London before them, silent for once.

Rose studied him for a few seconds, but he seemed to have pulled away again. She sighed, and told Donna, pointing in the direction of the Powell Estate. “My mum and I live just over there, the Powell Estate.” Rose found her voice trailing off when she realized that that wasn’t true anymore. She’d lost her mum; her and Pete and Mickey were trapped in that other universe now. All she had now was the Doctor, and he had her. Rose sniffled. But that was enough, really, it was.

“Rose? You all right?” Donna asked worriedly.

The other woman’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and Rose sniffed. “Yeah, I’m fine thanks,” she didn’t see the Doctor studying her as well, but she could feel his gaze practically boring into her, “really, I am.” A few seconds later she jumped slightly when she felt a hand cover the one she was leaning back on, but when she looked up to see the Doctor flash a smile at her, she smiled back and squeezed his hand in thanks.

The Doctor was suddenly moving again, turning to study Donna as if she was a puzzle he couldn’t figure out how to solve. She kind of was, actually.

“Question is, what do camouflaged robot mercenaries want with you? And how did you get inside the TARDIS?” He asked quickly, firing off question after question while speaking at top speed like he usually did when thinking. “I don’t know…” The Doctor broke off to study her again, and then reached over to look for his sonic screwdriver in the pocket of his jacket Donna was currently wearing. He completely missed the way Donna rolled her eyes and then tensed as he dug around in the pockets, and Rose had to try very hard to bite her tongue. ****

Then the Doctor turned back to Donna, and asked again, “What’s your job?”

Donna sighed, and said in the grandest manner she could manage at the moment, “I’m a secretary.”

But the Doctor just frowned and continued scanning her with his sonic screwdriver, not realizing that Donna was getting angry with him again. “It’s weird, I mean- you’re not special, you’re not powerful, you’re not connected, you’re not clever, you’re not important…”

“Rude again, Doctor!” Rose told him loudly, managing to break off his tirade of insulting comments.

Donna turned to smile gratefully at her. “Thanks for that.”

“No problem, you just have to tell him he’s getting rude or ignore him when he gets like this,” Rose warned her.

Donna nodded, but then when she turned back towards the Doctor to see that he was still scanning her, she made a strangled yell and whacked the screwdriver aside. “Stop bleeping me!”

 The Doctor didn’t seem put off at all by that, he just slid the sonic back into his pocket. “What kind of secretary?”

“I’m at H.C. Clements,” Donna told them, “it’s where I met Lance, I was temping. I mean, it was all a bit posh really. I’d spent the last two years at a double glazing firm. Well, I thought- I’m never gonna fit in here.”

As Donna explained, Rose couldn’t help but think that Donna could well give the Doctor a run for his money, gab wise. She seemed to love to talk just as much as he did.

“And then he made me coffee,” Donna said, a happy smile on her face. “I mean, that just doesn’t happen. Nobody gets the secretaries a coffee.”

“Right, course not,” The Doctor commented, as if he knew exactly what he was talking about. Rose looked over at him, and when he noticed her looking at him, he coughed and looked away.

“And Lance—he’s the head of HR! He doesn’t need to bother with me!” Donna told them, shaking her head. “But he was nice, he was funny,” she still had that same happy smile on her face when she talked about Lance. It was sweet really, Rose thought. “And it turns out he thought everyone else was really snotty too. So that’s how it started, me and him—one cup of coffee. That was it.”

Before she could say any more, the Doctor broke in, “when was this?”

“Six months ago,” Donna answered quickly.

He seemed surprised at that, and then said, “Bit quick, to get married…”

Donna shrugged, saying hesitantly, “Well, he insisted. And he nagged, and he nagged me… And he just wore me down, and then finally, I just gave in.”

Rose had a feeling that Donna was twisting the story somewhat, but unlike the Doctor, she was too nice to say that.

“What does HC Clements do?” The Doctor asked, apparently still trying to figure out the situation even after Donna’s long-winded explanation.

“Oh, security systems, you know…” Donna told him with a shrug. “Entry codes, ID cards—that sort of thing. If you ask me, it’s a posh name for ‘locksmiths.’”

The last bit seemed to have grabbed the Doctor’s attention, because he said musingly, “Keys…”

But Donna seemed to be done talking now. She slowly got up to her feet, and shrugged the coat off to hand it back to him. “Anyway, enough of my CV. Come on, it’s time to face the consequences.”

The Doctor followed her to his feet, and then reached down to lend Rose a hand to help her up. Rose let him pull her up (she never stopped being surprised by how strong he was), and thanked him when she was standing again.

Meanwhile, Donna had continued talking. “Oh, this is gonna be so shaming,” She turned to the Doctor, pointing a finger at him, “you can do the explaining, Martian-boy.”

The Doctor sighed, shaking his head. “Yeah, I’m not from Mars.”

Donna didn’t seem to hear him, because she was walking back towards the TARDIS again.

Rose had a feeling that Donna calling him a Martian was going to become a habit now. She felt a hand close around hers, and looked up to see the Doctor smiling at her. Rose smiled back and squeezed his hand as they began following Donna to the TARDIS.

As she walked, Donna called over her shoulder to them, “Oh, I had this great big reception all planned. Everyone’s gonna be heartbroken.”

 


	4. Chapter 4

 

  

However, when they arrived at the place where Donna’s reception was being held, following a few bumps and a narrow landing, it seemed like no one had been heartbroken at all by Donna’s disappearance.

They’d apparently decided to continue the reception even without Donna, since the song ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’ was blaring out at full volume while everyone danced, or drank, or ate, or laughed.

Rose, Donna, and the Doctor walked in, watching everyone as they enjoyed themselves. Rose and the Doctor looked on with amusement and slight surprise, but Donna simply stood stiffly between them, staring awestruck at the merriment, with her arms crossed.

For a few more seconds, no one noticed the arrival of the trio, more specifically the bride, and continued having fun.

But then a middle-aged blonde woman standing at the edge of the crowd finally spotted Donna and promptly froze.

Little by little, the rest of the crowd followed suit as they too noticed the new arrivals until everyone was silent and staring at Donna as well as the Doctor and Rose.

Donna seemed to quickly find her voice again, as she asked loudly, “You had the reception without me?” She enunciated each word clearly, practically yelling at them.

A young man in a tux looking worried, and a little upset, pushed his way to the front of the crowd. He stared at Donna as he asked worriedly, “Donna, what happened to you?”

But Donna didn’t seem to hear his question at all, because she asked again, even louder and more incredulous than last time, “You had the reception without me?!”

There was an awkward pause then, as if none of the reception goers seemed to know what to say, or even want to say anything.

The Doctor took the opportunity to lean forward, and greeted everyone with a wave, “Hello! I’m the Doctor.”

“And I’m Rose.” Rose added from next to him, holding his hand. It was almost like they had landed on yet another alien planet and were introducing themselves to the population there. Almost, but not quite.

Apparently still dumbstruck, Donna turned to them and commented, “They had the reception without me.”

“Just awful,” Rose soothed, smiling at her.

The Doctor nodded, and said agreeably, “Yes, I gathered.”

A young, pretty blonde woman seemed to be the first one to find her voice again. “Well, it was all paid for, wasn’t it?” She commented snidely.

Donna rolled her eyes, and hissed, “Thank you, Nerys.”

The Doctor leaned over towards Rose to whisper, “So that’s the infamous Nerys, then.”

Rose leaned over to whisper back, “She looks like a Nerys.”

He turned his head to actually look at her. “What do you mean ‘she looks like a Nerys’? How can anyone look like a specific name?”

“She just does!” Rose replied insistently in a soft voice.

The middle aged woman who had first noticed Donna’s arrival walked forward to stop just in front of Donna. “Well, what were we supposed to do?” She asked annoyed. “I got your silly little message in the end -- "I'm on Earth"? Very funny.”

“She was right though,” Rose whispered to the Doctor with a smile. He laughed.

 “What the hell happened? How did you do it?” Sylvia began demanding, somehow sounding worried and annoyed at the same time. “I mean, what's the trick because I'd love to know—“

Everyone began talking at the same time then, demanding to know the same thing. The questions and noise increased until all the trio could hear was an incomprehensible babble of voices all yelling at Donna.

Donna promptly burst into tears then, and a few seconds later they all made “aw”-ing noises as their anger quickly melted into pity at the sight of her crying.

Like a loving husband, Lance walked to Donna and tightly wrapped his arms around her.

As everyone applauded, and Donna cried into Lance’s shoulder, she raised her head just enough to wink at the Doctor and Rose through her fake tears.

He smirked back at her, amused by her deception, while beside him Rose tried really hard not to laugh. Donna was an amazing actress, and certainly knew how to get her way. Rose didn’t really blame Donna for getting out of answering their questions by pretending to cry, she would probably have done the same if she were in Donna’s place.

Once Donna had stopped pretending to cry, and all of the other people at the reception were done fussing over her, the party began up again, everyone quickly getting back into the full swing of things.

Donna had joined her fiancé, the man who had spoken first earlier, on the dance floor, and the two of them were now happily dancing together.

The Doctor leaned against the bar, smiling slightly as he watched Donna dancing and waited for Rose to return with the drinks she’d said she was going to get.

He’d protested that they didn’t have any money to pay for the drinks, but Rose had replied with that smile of hers that she she’d been sure to grab her wallet before they landed this time just in case he turned out to be a cheap date again. Then she’d walked away before he could protest that it was only that one time after seeing the end of the world that she’d had to pay. Ever since then he’d been a perfect date, and gentlemen. He wasn’t going to add the ‘most of the time’ that he knew was more of the truth.

Turning his head to survey the rest of the crowd, the Doctor noticed a man sitting further down the bar fiddling with a mobile. He walked over to the other man, and gestured at the phone to borrow it. Apparently he looked trustworthy, because the man handed it over with a nod.

The Doctor went back to where he’d been sitting before, and put on his glasses. He fiddled with the phone a little until he got to the screen to do a web search, and used it to search for H.C. Clements.

He glanced quickly around the room to make sure no one was paying any attention to him, and then slid his sonic out of his pocket and aimed it at the phone.

“Whatcha doing?”

Although he’d never admit it, the Doctor jumped and nearly lost his grip on the phone and his sonic. He fumbled a little to get the devices back under control and then turned to see Rose standing next to him holding two drinks and looking curious.

“Rose!” The Doctor greeted warmly, barely able to bite back a comment about how she’d startled him. “There you are.”

She smiled at him then turned to lightly set the drinks down on the bar next to them. “Got some drinks for us. A banana daiquiri for you, course, and a soda for me.”

“No alcohol for you, Miss Tyler?” He asked, delighted when that coaxed a smile from her. “Now, let’s see if they made this right,” The Doctor told her, reaching over to pick up the banana daiquiri and taking a sip while watching her over the top of the glass.

When he hadn’t said anything for what seemed like a long time, Rose prodded him. “Well?” She asked, drawing the word out just like he often did.

He continued to just look at her for a few more seconds, drawing it out until finally admitting, “It’s good.” As he set it back down on the bar, the Doctor added, “Could do with a bit more banana, but otherwise it’s delicious.”

Rose rolled her eyes at that, just as he knew she would. “Course it could do with a bit more banana. According to you, everything could do with more bananas in it.”

“There’s nothing wrong with bananas in things!” The Doctor protested, “Bananas are a wonderful…”

“Source of potassium,” Rose finished with him. She shook her head and then raised her glass to her lips. When she finished drinking and put it back down next to the Doctor’s, Rose asked, gesturing at the mobile still in his hand, “So, what’re you doing?”

“Ah,” he said, holding it up so she could see the screen, “I was searching for HC Clements.”

Rose blinked. “Where’d you get the mobile?”

“Borrowed it from someone,” he replied, then quickly resumed pointing the sonic at the mobile again. “I was going to see if I could find anything,” the Doctor told her, watching the screen as it flickered through various search results.

“Any luck yet?” Rose asked, leaning in towards him from her perch on the stool next to him.

He glanced up at her, “Haven’t tried yet, have I?”

Before either of them could say anything else, the phone beeped quietly, displaying a line of text that said “Sole Prop. TORCHWOOD.”

The Doctor frowned, sliding his sonic back into his pocket. “Well, that’s odd.” He commented, showing Rose the text on the screen. “How about that?”

Rose leaned over a little more to see the screen, and then stared at the words. “Torchwood? But, I thought…”

He nodded at her worried expression, “Exactly.”

 The Doctor slid off the stool and walked back over to the man he’d borrowed the mobile from to hand it back to him with a quick thanks.

When he returned to Rose, he noticed her watching the people out on the floor dancing. She looked happy just watching them, but part of him wondered if he should ask her to dance.

He had gathered himself and was just about to ask her, when out of the corner he noticed an official looking man with an official looking camera standing off to the side, the camera aimed at the people dancing.

“Hmm,” He mused before sliding off the stool and turning back towards her. “Feel like a little investigating?” The Doctor asked her, holding his hand out to her.

“Course!” Rose replied quickly, letting him help her down from the stool and then still holding his hand as they made their way over to the cameraman.

They were able to get to him fairly easily, and when they had stopped next to him, the Doctor reached up to tap the other man on the shoulder.

“Hello there, I’m the Doctor,” he said, flashing a smile. “And this is Rose.”

Rose leaned over to offer her other hand to the man, “nice to meet you.”

The man nodded and shook her hand before straightening again. “What can I do for you?”

The Doctor and Rose looked at each other for a moment before the Doctor said, trying to sound casual, “We were wondering if we could get a look at the tape of the wedding, actually.”

Rose nodded. “That’s right. Everyone told us about it, but we weren’t actually there.”

“Ah,” the man replied, smiling at them. “Well, that I can do,” he walked over to the bag sitting at the base of the tripod of the camera to rustle in it a little. Tape in hand, the man walked back over to them. “I taped the whole thing—they’ve all had a look. They said “sell it to You’ve been Framed,” I said, “more like the BBC,” He told them as he put the tape in the camera to show them. After a little fiddling, he said, “Here we are…”

Rose and the Doctor leaned in towards the small screen as the tape began to play; the camera zoomed in on Donna’s face as she seemingly disintegrates into golden particles while screaming.

The Doctor stared at it, things beginning to click in his mind. “Can’t be!” He said softly, and then glanced up at the cameraman. “Play it again?”

Beside him Rose was watching him, but before she could ask the camera man commented, “Clever, mind! Good trick, I’ll give her that. I was clapping.”

 The Doctor ignored him as the tape began to play again, his brow furrowed incredulously as he once again watched Donna disintegrate into golden dust. “But, that looks like… Huon Particles!” He commented half to himself.

“Doctor?” Rose asked, squeezing his hand to try and get his attention, “What’re Huon Particles?”

But he seemed to be on a roll. “That’s impossible, that’s… ancient!” The Doctor protested. “Huon energy doesn’t exist anymore, not for billions of years!” He remarked out loud to himself. “So old that…”

Rose just watched him, knowing that she wouldn’t get an answer from him until he worked out the answer. But suddenly he turned to survey the crowd, his eyes quickly landing on Donna, and then he began running towards the window with the announcement, “…It can’t be hidden by a bio-damper!”

 She was pulled along with him, still holding hands as he ran to the window and peered out of it. “Doctor, what-?”

“Just look!” He answered sharply, staring out the window.

Rose leaned down, trying to see what he was looking at. But she quickly understood as she noticed the Santa’s standing outside, slowly making their way towards the hall.

Before Rose could comment, the Doctor was rushing back to Donna, shouting the woman’s name.

Donna stopped dancing and turned when she heard her name, and then stared as Rose and the Doctor rushed to a halt in front of her. “What? What is it?”

“Donna, they’ve found you,” The Doctor told her in a rush.

She frowned at them. “What, you mean the…”

“Robot Santa’s?” Rose interrupted her, “Yeah.”

“But you said I was safe!” Donna protested weakly, holding up the hand with the bio-damper ring he’d given her.

The Doctor shook his head, “The bio-damper doesn’t work, not on them. We’ve got to get everyone out.”

Donna stared in shock at him, and seemed to be readying herself from another protest when she turned and looked around at everyone else in the room. “Oh, my God—it’s all my family.”

Rose had been glancing around as well, and spotted a possible escape route. “Out the back door!” She suggested, and then began pulling the Doctor in that direction with Donna following close behind.

The three of them ran out the back door, but two of the robot Santa’s was already there, advancing on them.

“Maybe not,” The Doctor corrected, and they ran back inside. He broke away from them to rush to another window where he saw two more Santa’s standing outside.

“We’re trapped,” Donna announced quietly, turning around to stare at the crowd on the dance floor still dancing unawares.

The Doctor, staring out the window, noticed one of the pair of Santa’s framed in the window holding some sort of device which it raised as it realized he was watching them.

He frowned, trying to make the connection.

“Doctor! Doctor!” Rose called worriedly, tugging lightly on his sleeve.

Shaking his head, the Doctor turned to her. “What is it, Rose?”

“Last time it was the Christmas tree, Doctor, remember?” She asked, alternating between looking at him and in towards the room. “The tree that ruined our flat and almost killed us?”

“The Christmas tree,” he repeated, staring at her as things quickly began to click. “The Christmas tree!” The Doctor said again, this time yelling as he realized what she meant. “Of course!”

As Rose and the Doctor turned to stare horrified at the large Christmas tree standing in the middle of the room, Donna asked confused, “What about it?”

“Christmas trees kill,” The Doctor told her as he rushed away into the crowd.

When he was out of sight, Donna turned to Rose, still confused. “Christmas trees kill? Why do we keep them in our homes then?”

Rose shook her head, “Not all of them. Just alien controlled ones.”

Before Donna could ask her anything else, Rose rushed after the Doctor to find him standing in front of the Christmas tree yelling at people to get away from it.

“Get away from the tree!” She joined him, coming to a stop right next to him. He turned to smile at her before he added, “Don’t touch the tree!”

Together the two of them began trying to usher the crowd away from the tree, but the people were just staring at them as if they had a screw loose.

Donna joined them in warning off the crowd, although she wasn’t quite sure why. “Keep back from the tree!”

“Get away from the Christmas tree,” The Doctor shouted at them, waving his arms. “Everyone get away from it!”

As they tried to coax the confused group away from the tree, the Santa’s stopped right at the threshold of the room, ready with their remote controls.

At the same time, Donna quickly ushered a group of little girls away from the Christmas tree. “Out!” She turned around and caught sight of her husband to be. “Lance, tell them!”

He just looked as confused as everyone else did. “Donna, what’re you doing?”

Meanwhile, the Doctor said again, “Stay away from the tree!”

Now inside the room with them, the head Santa with the remote control held up its remote so the trio could see it. When it was sure they were all watching it, the robot Santa pressed the big red button in the middle of the remote.

The middle-aged woman from before pushed forward, rolling her eyes, “Oh, for God’s sakes, the man’s an idiot!” She announced, gesturing at the Doctor. “Why? What’s a Christmas tree gonna…oh!”

The woman trailed off as she saw the decoration ornaments float away from the in tree on their own, bobbing slightly.

As the Doctor watched the baubles mistrustfully as they hovered above the crowds’ heads, Rose moved towards him and took his hand again.

“Not just the alien Santa’s, but the Christmas trees too?” Rose protested quietly to him, gently bumping against his side.

He shook his head, “Unbelievable. Although this time it’s more Donna’s fault. She’s the one they’re after.”

“Probably because she’s around you,” Rose teased him. She grinned when he shook his head.

Before he could respond, the excited chatter of the crowd trailed off drastically as the decorations suddenly began dive-bombing the room, setting off small explosions.

Everyone began screaming and yelling then, desperately trying to run for cover and get away from the exploding decorations.

Nearby, Donna pulled Lance down to hide under a table with her, and Rose released his hand to dive back into the crowd to try and help people to safety.

The Doctor ran over to the DJ stand, skirting the people who were still running around. “Oi! Santa!” He called to the Santa’s lined up opposite him. “Word of advice: if you're attacking someone with a sonic screwdriver...” He then reached over and picked up the microphone from the table. “… don’t let them near the sound system.”

After that, the Doctor then held his sonic next to the amplifiers and turned it on, causing the amplifiers to make a horrible, high-pitched screeching sound that made everyone cover their ears.

But more importantly, the Santa’s opposite him began vibrating violently until falling to pieces a few seconds later.

Once the Santa’s fell, he removed his screwdriver and ran over to examine the Santa’s before they or anyone else had a chance to do anything. Meanwhile, everyone around the room began to get up off the floor, groaning and mumbling amongst themselves.

Donna ran over to two of the children who had been lying on the floor, hands over their hands, and helped them up. “You two all right?” When they nodded, she patted them on the head and sent them over to their parents.

After making sure that everyone around her was at least alive and back on their feet, Rose hurried over to the Doctor and knelt beside him. “What’d you find?” She asked.

He showed her the hand held console he’d picked up, “Remote control for the decorations look like. But, there’s a second remote control for the robots.” The Doctor leaned over to examine the head of one of the Santa’s. “They’re not scavengers anymore. I think someone’s taken possession.”

Rose frowned, “But that Christmas, you said…”

“I know, Rose.” He reassured her. “They’re supposed to be scavengers. But, I think something’s happened, something to make them actually work for someone, or something.”

Donna came over then to stand next to the fallen Santa’s and look down at them. “Never mind all that, you’re a doctor- people have been hurt,” she confronted the Doctor. Donna then turned to Rose, “And you, you’re not a doctor, but I’m sure you can still help.”

Before Rose could respond, the Doctor, who was obviously pretending not to have heard her, said, “Nah, they wanted you alive.” He tossed a partially broken bauble in her direction. “Look, they’re not active now.”

Donna shook her head and tossed the bauble aside. “All I’m saying, the two of you could help.”

Rose looked up at her, trying to look as apologetic as she could. “I’m sorry Donna, but there’s the bigger picture to think about. What’s important is keeping you safe-“

“There’s still a signal!” The Doctor announced, interrupting her as he sprang to his feet. Before either of them could ask what he meant, he took off across the room.

Rose sighed, looking after him. “We’d better go after him before he gets into more trouble. ‘Specially if he’s found something.”

Donna followed the other girl as she began moving after the Doctor, but was delayed when her mum stepped in front of her, looking upset.

“Donna… who is he?” She asked worriedly. “Who is that man?”

But Donna didn’t have an answer for her. She didn’t have any idea what to do in fact, so she just moved past her mum, continuing to follow the Doctor and Rose.

She found the two of them standing outside the hall. The Doctor was scanning the helmet of the robot Santa or whatever with his sonic device thing, and Rose was standing next to him looking on.

Even though he wasn’t looking at her, the Doctor seemed to have notice Donna joining them because he said suddenly, “There’s something behind this, directing the robots.”

Rose turned to look at her with an amused smile. “He means the Santa’s are being ordered around by someone, or something,” she translated.

Donna stared at the two of them. “But why is it me? What have I done?”

“If we find the controller,” the Doctor told her, still scanning, “we’ll find that out.”

Suddenly his sonic device beeped, and the Doctor made a muttered “Oh” noise before raising it into the air. “It’s up there,” he told them, “something in the sky.”

Rose and Donna stared at him.

“Something in the sky?” Rose asked. “What’re they doing in the sky? Why don’t they just come down here?”

“Why don’t they just tell us what they want me for?” Donna protested, “I can’t be that important.”

The Doctor didn’t answer either of them, but a few seconds later he lowered his sonic again looking faintly annoyed. “I’ve lost the signal. Donna, we’ve got to get to your office, H C Clements. I think that’s where it all started.”

“How are we going to get there?” Rose asked him. “The TARDIS is still recuperating.”

“Good point,” The Doctor answered, looking around. “We could, we could… Ah ha!” He said, noticing Lance standing in the doorway watching them with a confused expression. “Lance, is it Lance?” He went on before the man could reply. “Could you give us a lift?”

Lance opened his mouth to answer, probably in the negative, but the Doctor darted off again without waiting for an answer. Rose and Donna followed him, Rose giving the other man an apologetic shrug, and Donna going behind Lance and guiding him after the other two with her hands on his shoulders.  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

 

 

Since it was Christmas Eve, a holiday for most people, there was no one at the reception desk at the H C Clements building. This made it helpfully easy for the four of them to get inside and then go up in the lift to the floor where Donna worked.

  
Lance had been nice enough to drive the three of them to the building without much of a protest, although that could’ve been because he was too confused and taken aback by the situation he’d found himself in on what was supposed to be his wedding day. It wasn’t everyday your fiancé was kidnapped from your wedding by alien Santa’s and then had exploding ornaments dive bombing you. But he seemed to take it fairly well, even if that seemed to mostly be Donna’s doing.

As soon as the lift dinged and the doors opened, the Doctor rushed out and over to the nearest computer.

“This might just be a locksmiths,” he began as Rose came over to stand next to him, “but H C Clements was brought up twenty years ago by the Torchwood Institute.”

Donna, who had stopped to stand at the desk opposite, stared confusedly at him. “Who are they?”

“They were the ones behind the battle of Canary Wharf,” Rose replied from thickly as she watched the Doctor as he fiddled with the computer.

Instead of replying, Donna just stared blankly at them.

“… Cyberman invasion?” The Doctor tried, pausing in his fiddling to look up at her.

Donna’s eyebrows raised a little, but she continued to look confused.

Rose tried again, a little surprised that Donna didn’t seem to know what they were talking about. How could she have missed the Cybermen? “Skies over London full of Daleks?”

That seemed to click finally because Donna’s mouth formed a little “o” and she nodded. But then that hope was dashed when she said, “Oh, I was in Spain.”

The Doctor and Rose turned to look at each other then, and Rose mouthed “Spain?” at him. He just shook his head and informed her as firmly as he could, “They had Cybermen in Spain.”

“Scuba diving,” Donna enlightened him, crossing her arms as if daring him to say anything else.

Rose had a sudden urge to bang her head against something hard again. Donna had missed the Cyberman invasion, and the Daleks, because she had been scuba-diving in Spain? What kind of world was this?

The Doctor just shook his head, flashing Rose a skeptical look, and then said, “That big picture, Donna—you keep missing it.”

Before Donna could reply, he darted over to another computer and began fiddling with it. “Torchwood was destroyed, but H C Clements stayed in business. I think…” He paused as he typed something on the keyboard, and then started up again when Rose nudged him to get his attention again. “Huh?” He looked at her cluelessly until she jerked her head in Donna’s direction, and indicated talking with her hand. “Oh, right, sorry. I think someone else came in and took over-“ with an annoyed noise, he whacked the top of the monitor with his hand, “the operation.”

Donna shook her head, and moved over so she was on his other side from Rose. “But what do they want with me?” She asked frustrated, saying it loudly in his ear so he’d be sure to hear her.

He straightened and turned to her, finally giving her his full attention again. “First of all, my hearing’s just fine thanks so there’s no need to yell. Second, somehow you’ve been dosed with Huon energy. And that's a problem because Huon energy hasn't existed since the Dark Times. The only place you'd find a Huon particle now is a remnant in the heart of the TARDIS. See? That's what happened.”

When Donna just looked even more confused, and a bit worried, he turned to Rose, hoping she’d understood. But Rose looked confused as well, although it was a kind of resigned confusion. With a sigh, the Doctor swept a hurried gaze around the workstation they were at for a way to explain it to them. Finally his eyes alighted on a nearby mug, and a group of pencils. He picked up the mug and held it up for them.

“Say… that’s the TARDIS,” next he held up one of the pencils, “and that’s you, Donna. The particles inside you activated, the two sets of particles magnetized and… WHAP!” With that efficient sound effect, he threw the pencil into the mug. “You were pulled inside the TARDIS.”

“She’s a pencil inside a mug? That’s how she got inside the TARDIS?” Rose asked skeptically. At least this second explanation had been easier to understand, but he had set a new record for improvised props.

Donna, meanwhile, was staring at the pencil inside the mug he was still holding. “I’m a pencil inside a mug?” She asked him weakly.

“Yes, yes you are,” The Doctor reassured her, spinning the pencil around the mug. “4H. Sums you up.” He roughly set the mug and the pencil back down on the desk and moved on to interrogating Lance.

Rose moved over to lightly rest her hands on Donna’s shoulders. “You shouldn’t worry, Donna. ‘M sure it’s not bad as all that, he was just exaggerating. He does that sometimes. You’ll be fine, promise.”

 

Donna shook her head and raised her hands to scrub her face. “I dunno, Rose. Even if I’m a pencil inside a mug it still didn’t sound very good. Told me what I’d done was impossible before.”

Rose had to laugh at that. “He says it’s impossible, but most times he’s wrong. Said it was impossible for us to be together, yet,” she shrugged, smiling at the other woman, “here I am.”

“What do you mean?” Donna asked confused.

Rose’s smile faded away as she shifted uncomfortably. “Well, I nearly got trapped in another universe cause of Canary Wharf. But the Doctor came for me after a while, and we came back here and started traveling again. That was just before we met you actually.” Rose smiled at Donna again, and gently squeezed her shoulder. “So, don’t believe him when he says ‘impossible’.”

Donna nodded weakly, “I’ll try, Rose.” She glanced over to see the Doctor talking rapidly to her increasingly annoyed looking fiancé. “Your Doctor better not be roughing up my fiancé,” Donna warned Rose.

Rose turned in that direction as well, and then sighed when she saw what Donna meant. “Oh, really…”

She walked over to where the Doctor was firing questions at Lance while he attempted to find what he was looking for on yet another computer, and looped her arm through his. “Find anything yet?” She asked as the Doctor focused his attention on the computer.

He shook his head, and straightened slightly to rummage through his pockets with his free hand. “Not yet, Lance apparently doesn’t know anything about this since he’s in charge of personnel and not a project manager,” He told her, barely masking his skepticism.

“Right,” Rose replied, and looked over at Lance. “Sure you know something. Bet everyone gossips in a place like this.”

Lance gave her an annoyed look in return, “How am I supposed to know something like that?” He shot back. “Why am I even explaining myself?” The man demanded angrily.

“Aha!” The Doctor exclaimed, pulling his sonic out of his pocket. He raised his hand and held the sonic to the screen of the computer. A few seconds later, the screen displayed a locked information page for H C Clements. “There you are!”

Rose lightly bumped her hip against his. “The sonic strikes again! Can’t keep anything from us!”

He turned to grin at her for a long moment before beginning to go through the contents of the screen that had come up.

Lance took the moment to ask loudly, “What the hell are we talking about?”

Donna patted him lightly on the arm, maybe as an attempt to try to calm him, but said nothing.

After a pause, the Doctor replied, “H C Clements makes keys, that’s the point.” A 3D plan of the H C Clements came up on the screen then, and all of them gathered around to look. The plan showed an outline of the building with floors 1-6, and then the ground floor and the lower ground floor underground marked plainly. “And look at this,” he added, studying the plan, “we’re on the third floor.”

“Of course we’re on the third floor!” Lance exclaimed, “It’s marked, isn’t it?”

“Quiet, Lance.” Donna scolded, and then leaned forward to ask the Doctor, “Why’s it so important that we’re on the third floor?”

The Doctor turned around to face the other two as he pocketed the sonic. “Better to show you than to tell you,” he said, and then began moving towards the lifts without waiting for them.

Rose hurried after him, grinning, and Donna started after her only to realize Lance was standing still. She turned to him. “Well, come on then!” Donna scolded, and then began dragging him forward by her grip on his hand.

They met up with Rose and the Doctor who were standing by the lifts waiting for it to come up to the floor the group of them was on.

The Doctor and Rose had been talking quietly to each other, holding hands, but then the Doctor turned to Donna and Lance as they arrived.

“Underneath reception, there’s a basement, yes?” He asked quickly.

Donna and Lance looked confused at the question, but managed to nod in response.

With surprising timing, the lift rose to their level then, and a few seconds the door ping-ed open.

The Doctor darted inside once they were open, and carefully studied the controls. “Then how come when you look on the lift, there's a button marked 'lower basement'? There's a whole floor which doesn't exist on the official plans.” He turned to look questioningly at the three of them. “So what's down there, then?”

Catching on, Rose grinned excitedly. “There’s a secret floor! Ooh, those are always good.”

Lance stared first at Rose, and then at the Doctor. “Are you telling me,” he asked, voice dripping with skepticism, “this building’s got a secret floor?”

The Doctor shook his head. “No, I’m showing you this building’s got a secret floor,” he corrected.

Lance scoffed at him, turning away.

Donna, however, peered around him to look at the controls. “It needs a key,” she told him as if he hadn’t known.

The Doctor once again pulled out his sonic, “I don’t.”

Once he had successfully soniced the lock, he tucked the screwdriver away again and turned towards Rose, Donna and Lance who were standing just outside the elevator.

 “Right then. Rose, I need you to stay here.” When she crossed her arms and gave him the I’m-about-to-slap-you look as she opened her mouth, he quickly cut her off. “No, Rose. Don’t argue, please,” He glanced over at Donna and Lance and then walked over to stand just in front of Rose. Taking her hands in his, he continued trying to reason with her. “I just got you back Rose, after thinking I’d never see you again. I don’t want to risk that happening again; I don’t want to lose you.”

Rose sighed; looking very annoyed with him but didn’t pull her hands away. “Doctor, remember the promises we made each other? How you promised to stop making decisions for me, and to let me start taking care of myself? I’m twenty-one years old, Doctor. I can make my own decisions and take care of myself; I’m not a little kid.” This time when he opened his mouth to argue, she was the one to cut him off. “I know I’m a kid compared to you, Doctor, and I don’t have all the experience you do, but you know that that doesn’t matter. We’ve been traveling together for a while, and I’ve been fine ‘til now.”

“I almost lost you, Rose,” He argued, his voice soft. “At Canary Wharf I nearly lost you again because of some stupid mistake. I won’t let that happen.”

She shook her head, “Then stop worrying about me and start focusing on what you need to be focusing on. If you don’t have to worry about what might happen to me, you won’t make mistakes. I can do whatever I need to without needing you hovering every single minute.” Rose paused, “You need to trust me.”

“I do trust you Rose,” The Doctor reassured her, “But-“

From behind them Donna loudly cleared her throat. “Hate to break up this romantic moment of yours,” she told them, “But I think you two need to have your heads screwed on tighter.”She turned to address the Doctor. “Doctor, stop being a thick-headed alien twit and just let her come with us. I’m sure she’ll be fine since she’s apparently survived traveling with you this long.” Next she turned to Rose. “Rose, just give him a little leeway all right?” Her face broke out into a grin, “But not too much, you seem to be doing him a world of good.”

Rose grinned back. She really did like Donna after all. “I’ll do my best.”

The Doctor gave the two of them a look of betrayal, but then sighed in defeat and turned to look at Lance as well as Donna. “Donna, Lance, thanks for everything but the two of us can handle it from here, I’m sure. So see you later.”

Donna shook her head, giving him a warning look. “No chance, Martian. You two are the ones who keep saving my life; I’m not letting either of you out of my sight.”

With that she joined the two of them in the lift.

 The Doctor winced and looked pleadingly at Rose, but she just grinned and shook her head at him. There was no way she was going to leave Donna behind, especially since she was so good at telling him off when she wouldn’t.

He finally sighed, and reached out to press the button for the lower basement as he commented quietly, “Going down.”

Rose reached out from next to him and took his hand again, squeezing it lightly in reassurance.

Meanwhile, Donna turned around from where she stood in front of the pair. “Lance,” She demanded pointedly.

Lance stiffened and suggested nervously, pointing over his shoulder, “Maybe I should go to the police?”

Donna rolled her eyes and demanded again, “Inside.”

Lance pressed his lips together but meekly joined them in the lift standing next to his fiancé. He looked like he was used to following Donna’s demands.

“To honour and obey,” The Doctor quoted to the other man.

Lance rolled his eyes. “Tell me about it, mate.”

“Oi!”

“Doctor!”

 

The doors closed on the women’s protests, and the lift began to slowly descend to the mysterious lower basement.

~~~~

A few minutes later, the lift pinged once again as it reached the lower basement. The doors opened on a surprisingly silent group, and the four of them stepped out into a long, dark, dank corridor that was dimly lit with an eerie green light from somewhere in the distance.

“Geez, this place is horrible.” Rose commented, looking up and down the corridor. “It’s almost as bad as some of the prisons we’ve been in.”

“So it wouldn’t be on the top ten then?” The Doctor asked her absently, aiming the sonic first down one direction of the corridor and then the other.

Rose shook her head, grinning at him. “Not even close.”

Donna turned from staring at their surroundings to stare at the two of them instead. “Don’t tell me the two of you are criminals, after all of this?”

Rose and the Doctor looked at each other, and then proceeded to burst out laughing.

“Glad I can provide some humor for you,” Donna grumbled, crossing her arms.

The Doctor was the first to get himself under control, and he managed to tell her, “No, we’re not criminals Donna. We’re kind of the opposite of criminals. It’s just that a lot of evil rulers, dictators, evil scientists and other bad people tend to get upset with us for ruining their fun.”

Rose nodded, straightening again. “Traveling in the TARDIS tends to consist of a lot of running and getting locked in jail.” When the Doctor looked like he was about to protest, she added, “Not always though.”

“She’s exaggerating the locked in jail bit,” the Doctor reassured Donna, “It’s mostly running.”

The other woman looked skeptical despite Rose’s clarification and the Doctor’s reassurance. But she simply crossed her arms and replied, “Right.” After a slight pause she continued, “So, where are we then? What goes on down here?”

The Doctor resumed looking around, but the corridor wasn’t very enlightening. “Well, let’s find out,” he suggested.

Rose frowned, and then asked, “Do you think Mr. Clements knows about this place?”

“The mysterious H C Clements?” The Doctor clarified, continuing when Rose nodded. “I think he's part of it.”

“What do you mean he’s a part of it?” Lance questioned baffled, but was ignored by the Doctor who’s eye had been caught by something.

“Oh, look,” the Doctor said happily, “Transport.”

Donna turned and walked back from where she’d been staring down the other direction of the corridor. “What d’you mean, transport?”

Rose had noticed what the Doctor had by then, and she said excitedly, “Oh, yes!”

The two of them walked over to one side of the corridor and began inspecting the electric scooters that were just sitting there unused.

Donna stared at the scooters. “No way,” she commented, and joined the Doctor and Rose.

Lance rolled his eyes and looked nervously down the corridor, but eventually joined them. This time without Donna’s command.

A few moments later, the Doctor had managed to sonic four of the scooters on, and soon the four of them were on their way down the corridor, each on their own electronic scooter.

For a few yards they all trundled in silence, until Donna looked around at them on all of their scooters and suddenly burst out laughing. Rose was the first to join in, and soon the Doctor followed her. The three of them continued laughing as they made their way down the corridor, but Lance never joined in, so he apparently didn’t get why they were all laughing. He just stared at them in confusion.

When they came to a door that said “Torchwood-authorized personnel only,” the Doctor abruptly stopped and then abandoned his scooter as he went over to the door and began trying to open it.

“Doctor!” Donna protested, stopping as well.

“He won’t come back ‘til he finds out what it is,” Rose told her, stopping her scooter and climbing off of it. “Wait here just a bit,” she instructed and walked over to where the Doctor was turning a wheel that would apparently open the door.

“Need any help?” She asked supportively, but the Doctor just glanced over at her and shook his head. He turned the wheel one last time before there was a clanging noise and he was able to pull the door open with one strong heave.

The door didn’t reveal anything very interesting to Rose’s disappointment. Just a small room with three brick walls and a not brick one that had a ladder stretching upwards on one side.

Rose walked inside the room to peer upwards, but the ladder just seemed to go on and on until stopping at some kind of opening. She turned back to her companions. “Well, here goes nothing,” she announced, and then began climbing.

“Rose!” The Doctor complained, but she pretended not to hear him and just continued climbing.

With an annoyed sigh, he turned to address Donna and Lance who had also clambered off their scooters to pause in the open doorway. “Wait here. Just need to get my bearings,” he told them and then pointed sternly at each of them. “Don’t, do anything.”

With that warning he then began climbing up the ladder after Rose.

“You’d better come back,” Donna warned him fiercely.

The Doctor paused to look down at her from over his shoulder. “I couldn’t get rid of you if I tried,” he called back. He winced when he heard Rose’s voice echo “Rude!” from above, and grinned at Donna before starting to climb again.

Donna smiled happily, and watched with Lance as the Doctor and Rose climbed upwards above them.

When the Doctor and Rose were supposedly out of hearing distance, Lance turned to Donna and asked worriedly, “Donna... have you thought about this? Properly? I mean, this is serious! What the hell are we gonna do?”

Donna, who wasn’t really listening, turned to him and gave him a reassuring smile. “Oh, I thought July,” she told him before returning her attention back to the ladder.

Meanwhile, Rose had reached the top of the ladder and was simply waiting there, watching the Doctor climb up to her.

She smiled as he reached her and then pointed at the miniature version of the door below. “Tried to get it open, but apparently I have to have my skinny but strong Martian to open it.”

The Doctor gave her a warning look, but reached up to grab either side of the metal wheel and began slowly turning it.

“Don’t fall,” Rose teased him, but he simply continued turning until there was a loud clanking noise before and he was able to push the door open and outwards.

Rose scrambled out first, and found herself nearly blinded by the low sun. As the Doctor climbed out after her, she raised a hand to shield her eyes and then stared around as she realized where they were.

“This is the Thames flood barrier!” She told him in shock.

“Really, is it?” The Doctor asked before frowning. “But why here? Why hide a secret base under a major landmark?”

Rose grinned at him. “Good question, ‘cause we’ve never had it happen before.”

He turned to her. “Aha! Now who’s being rude?” He asked, pointing an incriminating finger at her.

“You of course,” Rose replied, “you’re the rude one.” She paused, looking back at the scene around them. “Seriously, though. Why the flood barrier?”

The Doctor shook his head. “I don’t know. Guess we’ll just have to find out!” He suggested, moving around her to the side of the tunnel they’d climbed out of. “Ladies first,” the Doctor said, gesturing down at the ladder.

Rose walked over to the side of the hole, and managed to steady her feet on a rung of the ladder while clutching at the side of the opening without falling or hurting herself. “What, beauty before age?”

“Rose!” The Doctor complained with no hint of a pout at all. No, really. “I’m not-“

But she was already climbing back down the ladder, ignoring him.

With a sigh he clambered back into the tunnel, and began his way back down the ladder.

Once Rose was close enough to the ground, she jumped off the ladder and turned to face Donna and Lance who’d been waiting for them. “You should’ve seen it, it was amazing!” She told them breathlessly.

“Yeah, but what was up there?” Donna asked curiously.

Behind Rose, the Doctor jumped off the ladder and turned towards Donna and Lance, resting his hands on Rose’s shoulders and looking at them from over Rose’s head where he was resting his chin. “Thames flood barrier!” He announced. “Right on top of us. Torchwood snuck in and built this place underneath it.”

Donna stared at him. “What, there’s like a secret base hidden underneath a major London landmark?” She asked disbelievingly.

Rose grinned at her, fidgeting slightly in the Doctor’s embrace. “I know, right? Totally unheard of.”

The Doctor snickered at that, but did his best to look innocent when Donna looked at him curiously.

Rose jerked her elbow back, and was rewarded when she heard him gasp quietly and then flinched against her.

“If you two are finished, shouldn’t we be moving on?” Donna asked them sternly, and walked back out of the room.

Lance quickly followed her, and the Doctor and Rose went after them once Rose had gotten him to let go of her and take her hand instead of treating her like his personal chin and hand rest.

This time the four of them went on foot, abandoning their electric scooters in favor of simply walking.

It didn’t take them long to reach the far end of the corridor where the green light seemed to be coming from.

There was a door there, a regular looking door this time, with the Torchwood insignia printed on it again.

The Doctor went in first, slowly pushing the door open as the others followed quietly behind him.

  
It seemed to be a laboratory of some sort, full of massive test tubes shining with some kind of blue light as they bubbled away. There was other equipment around and near the massive test tubes, what looked like chemistry equipment, but the test tubes were the most noticeable.

As soon as he caught sight of them, the Doctor hurried inside and walked past one line of the test tubes as he studied them carefully.

“Oh, look at this!” He commented, staring at one of the test tubes in particular. “Stunning! Particle extrusion!”

Rose and Donna had followed after him, watching him more than looking at the equipment around the room.

“What does it do?” Donna asked curiously.

“Particle extrusion,” The Doctor replied mysteriously, and then peered more closely at the test tube. “Hang on…”

As he darted over to one of the bubbling tubes that was bubbling a little more than the other and tapped it lightly, the Doctor completely missed the look shared between Rose and Donna in response to his reply.

He moved back from the test tube, looking admiring. “Brilliant. They've been manufacturing Huon particles.” The Doctor leaned down to peer up at the tube, his face distorting in the glass. “In case my people got rid of Huons, they unraveled the atomic structure,” he told the group as a whole, glancing over at them before he squatted down to peer at the base of the test tube.

Rose winced slightly at that light reference to the other Time Lords, but it seemed to have been off-hand as he didn’t add anything else and continued to study the test tube without looking upset. She did wish he stopped doing things like that though, or would at least stop being mysterious and tell her more about his people. He had promised to open up to her more.

Meanwhile, Lance had begun questioning the Doctor at the mention of ‘his people.’

“Your people?” He asked curiously. “Who are they? What company do you represent?”

The Doctor straightened at the questions and turned back towards them. “Oh, I’m a freelancer.” He told Lance secretively, and Rose tried not to laugh. Freelancer, renegade, nearly the same.

He moved away from the test tubes and back into the middle of the room and towards Donna, Rose and Lance. “But this lot are rebuilding them. They've been using the river!” The Doctor told them, gesturing at the massive test tubes with one hand while the other was jammed in his pocket. As he talked, Donna and Rose moved slowly after him while Lance stayed near the edge of the room. “Extruding them through a flat hydrogen base so they've got the end result,“ pausing for a moment, he leaned over and picked up a smaller test tube and held it out to Donna and Rose as he peered down at it, “huon particles in liquid form.”

“So they’re using the river to make liquid Huon particles?” Rose paraphrased what she had understood of what he’d said. She felt herself flush with joy when the Doctor looked proudly at her and nodded approvingly.

Looking at the test tube he was holding, Donna asked quietly, “And that’s what inside me?”

The Doctor gently turned the knob at the top of the test tube, making the contents glow a goldish color. A few seconds later, Donna began glowing with the same color.

She stared down at herself, arms held away from her sides, “Oh my God!” She whispered.

“Oh, wow,” Rose commented, staring with wide eyes at the glowing Donna. “That’s the Huon particles in her doing that?” When Rose noticed how upset Donna was looking, she took a step forward but didn’t go as far as to touch her friend as she reassured softly, “It’s all right, Donna. We’ll figure this out, you won’t always… glow.”

The Doctor took the opportunity then to start his rambling explanations. “Because the particles are inert -- they need something living to catalyze inside and that's you. Saturate the body and then... HA!”

Both Rose and Donna jumped as the Doctor suddenly raised his voice on that one word, and then watched as the Doctor became full of mad enthusiasm again as he talked a mile a minute and began bouncing about in his passion.

“The wedding! Yes, you're getting married, that's it! Best day of your life, walking down the aisle -- oh, your body's a battleground! There's a chemical war inside!”

Most of the time Rose enjoyed seeing him like this, loved it when he became so overwhelmed with trying to work out a problem and was so full of life and energy. But not this time, not when he was ignoring how quickly distressed Donna was becoming as she watched him with confused and troubled eyes.

“Doctor, she began, trying to interrupt him. But he just continued on.

“Adrenaline, acetylcholine, WHAM go the endorphins, oh you're cooking! Yeah, you're like a walking oven! A pressure cooker, a microwave, all churning away. Then the particles reach boiling point, and SHAZAM!”

Before he could continue on with his rambling, Donna slapped him harshly.  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

 

It did stop him, and he actually stumbled a little with the force of the impact.

“What did I do this time?”He asked indignantly, staring wide-eyed at her as he pressed his hand against his injured cheek.

Rose snickered quietly. Donna was as good as her mum at giving him a slap, especially when he needed it. She hoped Donna would stay around for a while.

“Are you enjoying this?” Donna shot back angrily.

“You did take it a bit far, Doctor,” Rose added in defense of Donna when he looked to her, crossing her arms.

The Doctor stared at the two of them, and then let out a slow breath, relaxing slightly. Rose was glad to see that he did in fact look ashamed of himself.

Donna walked toward him then, breathing a little heavier than normal in her distress. “Right, just tell me- these particles, are they dangerous? Am I safe?”

He looked at her for a long moment, and his eyes flickered over to Rose before he said, not really convincingly, “Yes!” And then proceeded to quickly nod a few times.

Rose rolled her eyes. However good he thought he was at lying to people at important times, he really wasn’t.

But Donna seemed to have caught on because she tilted her head to one side and gave him a stern look before she asked firmly, “Doctor… if your lot got rid of Huon particles…why’d they do that?”

The Doctor sighed heavily, and just managed to look Donna in the eye as he told her gently, “Because they were deadly.”

Donna’s face fell completely at that. She looked like she was about to collapse as she whispered, “Oh, my God…”

Now that Donna had stopped glowing for the moment, Rose went over to the other woman and gently wrapped her arms around her shoulders in what she hoped was a reassuring way. “He’ll fix it, Donna. I dunno how, but he will.”

The Doctor quickly nodded. “I'll sort it out, Donna. Whatever's been done to you, I'll reverse it,” he said sincerely as he attempted to reassure her as well. “I’m not about to lose someone else.”

Rose looked up at him. “You didn’t lose me, Doctor.”

“I almost did,” he whispered quietly, and his expression was just like how he’d looked in those two minutes they’d had to say good bye. She suddenly had an urge to hug him, but right now it was Donna who needed her comfort more. “And I’m not loosing you either, Donna,” he promised.

None of them had any time to say something more, because they were distracted by the crashes and bangs that suddenly seemed to be coming from all around them.

As they turned around rapidly, trying to seek out the source of the sudden noise, a feminine sounding voice spoke to them, hissing and spitting. “Oh, she is long since lost,” the voice told them.

“What is that?” Rose asked, confused, moving over from behind Donna to link hands with the Doctor.

He shook his head, but before he could reply or any of them could speak, the large wall opposite them with the letters “Lab 003” imprinted on it in large black letters began sliding upwards.

They all turned to stare at the wall as it withdrew upward, not noticing Lance still standing by the doorway looking horrified.

As the wall drew level with their eye lines, they saw that it had apparently been hiding a secret chamber with an enormous round hole in the middle of the floor.

Donna’s eyes widened. “Well, that’s not a secret base. It’s a secret hole in the ground.”

A second later, the hissing voice spoke again, “I have waited so long, hibernating at the edge of the universe…”

As the voice spoke, the Doctor linked hands with Rose, and with Donna beside them, took a few slow steps towards the hole. Meanwhile, Lance,wide-eyed in horror,quickly ran back out of the door the four of them had come in from.

“… until the secret heart was uncovered and called out to waken!” The voice finished, voice rising triumphantly.

“Oh my god!” Donna exclaimed, pointing at the walls of the chamber that were lined with armed robots with metal faces wearing black hoods. “More alien robots!”

The armed robots turned so that all their gun-like weapons were pointing directly at the trio.

“That’s, not good,” the Doctor commented, moving closer to Donna and drawing Rose along him.

“No, really?” Rose asked scornfully, pressing herself against him. She really hoped he knew what to do, because she really didn’t want to be killed by armed alien robots. Especially ones being commanded by the kind of voice that had been talking to them.

The Doctor released Rose’s hand and took a few steps forward to peer down into the hole. “Someone’s been digging,” he commented, studying the hole. “Oh, very Torchwood. Drilled by laser.” He raised his head to address the voice, “How far down does it go?”

“Down and down,” the voice the replied, full of pride. “All the way to the centre of the Earth!”

Rose slowly took a few steps forward to stand next to him as she now looked down into the hole. “That’s a long ways down,” she observed, her voice only shaking a little.

“It is,” the Doctor agreed and then said more loudly, “What do you need a hole that deep for any way?”

Donna shuffled forward now to stand next to them as she asked curiously, “Dinosaurs?”

The Doctor and Rose turned to look at her.

“What?” He asked confused.

Donna swallowed once, nervously, before she repeated uncertainly, “Dinosaurs?”

Rose stared at her, forehead wrinkled in puzzlement, “What d’you mean dinosaurs?”

“That film, Under the Earth, with dinosaurs,” Donna explained quickly. When the two just continued staring at her, she added shortly, “Trying to help!”

The Doctor shook his head. “That’s not helping.”

“At least she’s trying, Doctor,” Rose scolded. “Have to give her that.”

He turned to look at her, ready to protest. But at her look he sighed and said to Donna, “Well, I suppose as long as you’re trying…”

“Such a sweet couple,” the hissing voice commented. Rose wasn’t sure if it was talking about her and the Doctor or Donna and the Doctor or some other mixture, but she did know that she didn’t take it as a compliment.

The Doctor moved away slightly from the two women and addressed the voice, and the ceiling, “Only a madman talks to thin air and trust me, you don't want to make me mad. Where are you?"

“High in the sky, floating so high on Christmas Night,” the voice replied condescendingly.

He shook his head, both hands in his pockets now. “I didn’t come all this way to talk on the intercom!” The Doctor protested, voice rising as he still paced around. “Come on; let’s have a look at you!”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Doctor!” Donna hissed at him.

“Who are you with such command?” The voice hissed angrily.

“I’m the Doctor,” he announced in the same way he always did.

“Doctor!” Rose hissed at him now.

But the voice went on. “Prepare your best medicines, doctor-man, for you will be sick at heart.”

The Doctor turned to grin at Rose and Donna, “See? Now we’re getting somewhere!”

“I think it’d be better if whoever it is just stayed in the sky,” Donna said softly, hanging her head a little.

Rose was about to nod her agreement, when all of a sudden there was a blue glow on the other side of the chamber, and a horrible red spider with a woman’s torso attached to the body and spider legs for arms and a human-like head but with multiple eyes that sharpened to a point, appeared on a ledge opposite them.

The Doctor stared at the creature, dark eyes wide in disbelief. “The Racnoss…” he said quietly. “But that’s impossible! You’re one of the Racnoss!”

“Empress of the Racnoss,” the spider creature corrected him snidely.

Rose, who knew the Doctor would be too busy making supposed small-talk with the new creature to answer anything, commented to Donna,“If only we had a really big shoe, we could get this sorted quickly.”

Donna managed a weak laugh, but her eyes were locked on the spider woman.

Rose sighed and leaned over to take the other woman’s hand. “Don’t worry, she won’t get you.”

This time Donna managed to nod at her.

Meanwhile, the Doctor was chatting with the Empress of the Racnoss.

“If you’re the Empress, where’s the rest of the Racnoss?” He asked her rapidly, and then added after a pause, voice slower and softer, “Or… are you the only one?”

The Empress of the Racnoss blinked at him a few times before she commented, “Such a sharp mind.”

“That’s it, the last of your kind,” the Doctor said softly, understanding. He then turned to Donna and Rose. “The Racnoss come from the Dark Times, billions of years ago, billions,” he told them and continued quickly as the Empress began hissing angrily again. “They were carnivores, omnivores, they devoured whole planets.”

“Racnoss are born starving,” the Empress interrupted them defensively, as she could apparently hear them.

Donna stared at the Empress as she asked, a little horrified, “They eat people?”

Instead of answering, he asked her, “H C Clements, did he wear those—“ the Doctor paused, forehead wrinkling. “Those, erm,” he raised a hand to make some confusing gesture that was probably supposed to help, “black and white shoes?”

Rose swallowed, getting a bad feeling about this.

Donna grinned, looking amused. “He did!” She agreed. “We used to laugh; we used to call him the fat cat in spats.”

The Doctor nodded and pointed to a web on the ceiling.

Rose and Donna looked in the direction he was pointing to turn and look up at the ceiling.

They noticed the pair of black and white shoes just barely poking out of the web above them.

“Oh, my God!” Donna exclaimed disgusted, staring wide-eyed at the two shoes.

Rose’s hand rose to cover her mouth. “Is that-?” She mumbled.

The Doctor nodded again and finished, “H C Clements, yeah.”

The Empress cackled, “Mm, my Christmas dinner.”

The Doctor turned to address her again. “You shouldn’t even exist!”He protested. “Way back in history, the Fledgling Empires went to war against the Racnoss—they were wiped out.” The Doctor said, managing to argue with the Empress and give Donna and Rose a history lesson at the same time.

Donna, who had been watching the Racnoss as the Doctor spoke with it, her, saw Lance as he crawled out onto a balcony above the one the Racnoss Empress was on. She stared at him, but Lance shook his head and raised a finger to his lips to tell her to stay quiet.

“Except for me,” the Empress corrected the Doctor.

Donna stepped in now, and began talking to the Empress as a bid to distract her. “But that’s what I’ve got inside me, that Huon energy thing.” The Empress began tossing her head back and forth, hissing, so Donna shouted, “Oi! Look at me, lady, I’m talking to you. Where do I fit in? How come I get all stacked up with these Huon particles?” 

The Empress continued to ignore her.

 “Look at me, you! Look me in the eye and tell me!” Donna demanded angrily, really getting into it now.

The Empress hissed angrily at her, but commented, sneering, “The bride is so feisty!”

“Yes, I am!” Donna shot back. “And I don’t know what you are, you big…” she made vague shapes with her hands, “thing….”

Rose was quietly cheering for Donna, and she leaned over to whisper to the Doctor, “She could give you a run for your money. ‘Specially since she’s rude and ginger, and she can talk just as much as you.”

“I think she’s doing just fine, don’t you?” He whispered back, looking admiringly at the ginger bride. “Especially after all she’s been through today so far.”

Rose was just about to ask him if he would consider inviting Donna to come with them, when she tuned back into what Donna was saying in time to realize she was talking to Lance who had apparently succeeded in sneaking up on the Empress.

“But a spider’s just a spider, and an axe is an axe!” Donna yelled at the Empress, and then turned to actually look at Lance as she said, “Now, do it!”

The Empress must have realized what they were up to, because she turned just in time to hiss at Lance as he swung the axe at her…and then stopped.

Rose felt her heart sink, and she glanced at the Doctor to see him looking sympathetically at Donna. When he saw Rose looking at him, he raised an eyebrow at her inquisitively. She gestured at Lance and the Empress with her hand and made a gesture that he must have understood because he nodded.

Rose winced at that, and felt even worse when Lance and the Empress suddenly began laughing. Oh poor, Donna.

“That was a good one.” Lance told the Empress, smirking. “Your face!”

“Lance is funny,” the Empress told the Doctor, Rose and Donna with a sort of odd grin.

Donna just stared at them, completely confused. “What?”

The Doctor leaned in towards her, and told her quietly, “I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” Rose said softly, moving forward a little to stand right behind Donna supportively.

Donna shook her head. “Sorry for what?” She asked them before turning back to her fiancé. “Lance, don’t be so stupid!” Donna protested then yelled, “Get her!”

But Lance just stared pityingly at her, holding the axe loosely in his hands. “God, she’s thick.”

Donna just stared at him, totally lost.

“Months I had to put up with her,” Lance continued, scornfully. “Months. A woman who can’t even point to Germany on a map.”

Rose lightly put her hands on Donna’s shoulders as she yelled angrily at Lance. “Oi! You don’t have to be all mean about it!”

“I, I don’t understand,” Donna said quietly, staring at the man who was supposed to be her fiancé,as her whole world seemed to fall apart around her yet again. She was grateful for the weight of Rose’s hands on her shoulders, as that seemed to be the only thing grounding her.

The Doctor sighed, not really wanting to be the one to tell her this. But he moved next to Donna and asked softly, “How did you meet him?”

“In the office,” Donna said, turning towards him.

Rose moved to face Donna. “He made you coffee,” Rose broke in, calling on what Donna had told them as they sat on that roof.

“What?” Donna asked, still not understanding.

Lance gave an annoyed sigh and elaborated, as if talking to a simpleton, “Every day, I made you coffee,” he said, pointing cheekily at her as he came to stand near the edge of the balcony.

“You had to be dosed with liquid particles,” the Doctor told her gently, “over six months.”

Donna stared at him as she finally started to get what he was saying, “He was poisoning me?”

“It was all there in the job title- the head of Human Resources,” the Doctor accused Lance, turning away from Donna.

Lance grinned. “This time, it’s personnel.”

Rose glared at him as he and the Racnoss began laughing again. “That’s horrible! You’re horrible and that’s a horrible pun!”

Donna shook her head, not wanting to believe this. “But… we were getting married.”

“Well, I couldn’t risk you running off. I had to say yes,” Lance told her with an easy shrug, grinning arrogantly. As he continued, he sounded even more and more insulting. “And then I was stuck with a woman who thinks the height of excitement is a new flavour Pringle.” Lance rolled his eyes, making it sound like it was the worst thing ever.

The Doctor and Rose moved closer to Donna, all the feistiness seeming to die out of her as she listened to Lance’s tirade of complaints. Opposite them, the Empress made faces and laughed as Lance continued.

“Oh, I had to sit there and listen to all that yap yap yap --'oh, Brad and Angelina -- is Posh pregnant?' X Factor, Atkins Diet, Feng Shui, split ends,'text me, text me, text me,' dear God, the never ending fountain of fat, stupid trivia.” Lance spat the few last words at her from across the chamber, grinning.

Donna continued staring at him as Lance went on and on, becoming increasingly hurt and confused as the man who she’d thought loved her complained about every little one of her faults. He seemed to have not really ever loved her at all; he’d just been using her for his own means. Just like everyone else in her life except for her granddad, he just saw all her faults and not any of her potential.

“I deserve a medal!” Lance declared, glancing at the Empress before looking back over at the trio again.

The Doctor stepped forward, taking the opportunity to cut off Lance’s tirade and ask some questions of his own. “Oh, is that what she’s offered you?” He asked nosily, as usual. “The Empress of the Racnoss?” The Doctor smirked as the Empress hissed a little at that. “What are you, her consort?”

Lance glared at him. “It’s better than a night with her,” he declared, gesturing at Donna with the hand still carrying the axe.

“Oi! Leave her alone!” Rose yelled at him from where she was trying to comfort Donna, lending the other woman her silent support.

Donna swallowed and told him mournfully, finally coming to terms with what had happened to her, “But I love you.”

“That’s what made it easy,” Lance told her nastily, smirking. He turned to the Doctor, “It’s like you said, Doctor -- the big picture -- what's the point of it all if the Human Race is nothing?” He challenged, and then gestured at the Empress. “That's what the Empress can give me. The chance to... go out there. To see it. The size of it all,” Lance explained, waving his hand at the area around them as if to indicate what he meant by ‘out there.’ “I think you understand that, don't you, Doctor?”

The Empress turned to her co-schemer. “Who is this little physician?” She asked him curiously, hissing as she eyed the Doctor.

“What she said,” Lance explained, nodding at Donna, “Martian.”

Rose snickered at that, and moved slightly out from behind Donna with the plan of telling the Empress and Lance just who they were dealing with. But she glanced over at the Doctor to see him shaking his head ever so lightly at her. Rose frowned at him, wondering what he was up to, but closed her mouth and decided to wait to see what he was going to do next.

The Doctor moved away from the two women, and managed to say, “Oh, I’m sort of… homeless,” without wincing as he tugged lightly on his ear. Before any of them could ask him about that, he walked back over to the peer down at the hole again. “But the point is, what’s down here? The Racnoss are extinct,” the Doctor repeated, now looking back up at Lance and the Empress. “What’s gonna help you four thousand miles down? That’s just the molten core of the Earth, isn’t it?”

Lance smirked condescendingly, tilting his head to look down at him, “I think he wants us to talk.”

“I think so too,” the Empress agreed, leaning forward a little to sneer at the Doctor.

“Well, tough!” Lance announced. “All we need is Donna!” He said, pointing first at him and the Empress and then at his ex-fiancé with his axe.

“Well, you’re not getting her!” Rose yelled back at him, moving back to Donna’s side and looping her arm through the other woman’s. “She’s not gonna be part of your schemes!”

The Empress glared at Rose as she straightened to her full-height and commanded, “Kill this chattering little doctor-man and his disrespectful blonde companion!”

“Ha, I’m the disrespectful one and you’re the chattering one,” Rose repeated to the Doctor, smirking at him. “It’s like she doesn’t even know us.”

The Doctor turned towards her, keeping an eye on the Empress and Lance. “What do you mean? I’d say she got it in one, except for I’m far more disrespectful than you are.”

“I’m getting there,” Rose told him with a light shrug. “Been taking lessons from you.”

“Don’t you hurt ‘em!” Donna challenged the Empress, moving a little so she was standing in front of the bickering Doctor and Rose in an attempt to shield them from whatever the Empress and Lance were planning to do.

The Doctor leaned forward slightly to tell her reassuringly, “No, no. It’s all right.”

He moved closer to her, gently pulling Rose along with him until the three of them were standing in a kind of tight huddle.

Donna shook her head, pressing up against them. “No, I won’t let them!” She argued, her voice shaking only a little as she held her arms out at her sides.

But the Empress ignored her, rising to her full height as she commanded to the until now forgotten armed robots, “At arms!”

All the robots turned to train their guns on the defenseless trio.

The Doctor raised his hands as he tried to interrupt, “Ah, now. Except-”

“Take aim!” The Empress continued gleefully.

The Doctor tried again, looking around at the robots. “Well, I just want to point out the obvious-“

“Doctor! Do something!” Donna told him sharply, all the fight having gone out of her at the sight of so many guns trained on them.

“Just wait!” Rose told the other woman confidently, but she was getting a little worried now too. She really hoped the Doctor had a plan.

“They won’t hit the bride,” The Empress reassured him, staring intently at him. “They’re such good shots.”

But the Doctor shook his head, waving his hands at her as he apparently tried to stall their execution. “Just—just—just—hold on, just a tick, just a tiny- just a little—tick,” he told her, faintly realizing that he was rambling again, especially when Rose nudged him in the side. The Empress hissed angrily at him so he quickly continued, “If you think about it, the particles activated in Donna and drew her inside my spaceship.” Donna turned to stare confusedly at himas he said this, and he was fairly certain Rose was shaking her head at him, but he still went on, reaching down with one hand to dig in his pocket. A few seconds later he found what he was looking for, and drew out the smaller test tube with huon particles that he’d used to demonstrate to Donna and Rose earlier. “So, reverse it…” the Doctor explained, twisting the top of the test tube which caused Donna, and the particles inside the test tube, to start glowing again, “The spaceship comes to her.”

Rose and Donna stiffened as a thick dark grey cloud of smoke enveloped them, blocking out the room around them as well as the armed robots and the Empress who angrily yelled for the robots to fire at the last second.

But it was too late. The three of them were already safely within the walls of the Tardis which had materialized around them from out of the smoke, protecting them.

As soon as the Tardis had fully materialized, the Doctor was off again, darting to the console. “Off we go!” He announced, already working at the controls.

Rose stumbled back a few feet and slumped heavily against the console, taking the chance to slow her rapidly beating heart. That had been close, even for the Doctor. Far too close.

From outside they could just make out the sounds of the Empress wailing angrily about losing her key, and the sound of the robots continuing to fire at the outside of the Tardis.

Donna stood frozenly where they had materialized; still stunned from everything that had happened to her in the past few minutes. She had been so sure that she was going to die, killed by a bunch of armed alien robots.

Rose however, had managed to quickly recover and had gone over to stand next to the Doctor. “Cut it a bit close there, didn’t ya?”

Once they started dematerializing a few seconds later, he turned to her with his best innocent expression. “What do you mean? I had it all under control, Rose. Nothing was going to happen.”

“Nothing was going to happen, there were alien robots with _guns_ , Doctor!” Rose yelled at him, clenching her fists. “Guns pointed at us! They were gonna start firing in a second if you hadn’t called the Tardis.”

The Doctor patted her lightly on the shoulder. “We weren’t in any danger, Rose. Like you said, I called the Tardis just in time. And here we are, safe.”

“Yeah, cause you happened to have that test tube with the particles in it!” She argued, pointing at the pocket where she guessed he had put it. “What would ya ‘ve done if it hadn’t worked?”

He blinked and stared at her for a long moment. “Well," he said calmly, tugging on his ear, "I guess we would've died.” At Rose’s thunderous expression he quickly added, holding his hands out to her in protest, “If I hadn’t thought of another plan! Which I definitely would’ve, no need to worry!”

“But I am worrying, Doctor.” Rose countered, leaning in towards him. “Cause what happens if that happens again, and this time you don’t have a plan? Or if it doesn’t work out so well?”

The Doctor frowned, and reached out to fiddle with the controls. “Well, then I, we, take care of that when it comes,” he suggested slowly. Then, in an attempt to distract her, he flashed a grin at her and moved to another part of the console. “Right now though, we have an angry, evil, scheming Racnoss Empress on our hands.”

Rose sighed, “Yeah.”  

It was no use challenging him like that; she knew it was unlikely she’d get any answers out of him. Even after what they’d gone through from Canary Wharf, he still had that “take it as it comes” attitude where he never thought things out.

As he fiddled with the controls on the part of the console he was standing at, the Doctor turned and addressed Donna, who still hadn’t said a word. “Oh, you know what I said before about time machines? Well, I lied.” He darted to another section of controls, and then stuck his head out around the time rotor again to add, “And now we’re gonna use it.”

Donna still didn’t respond, but Rose turned from where she was resting against the console a few feet away from him, and asked, “Where’re we going? Or when?”

“We need to find out what the Empress of the Racnoss is digging up,” the Doctor told her, now fiddling with different controls and starting to talk in a rush again as his excitement grew.“If something's buried at the planet core, it must've been there since the beginning.And that’s just brilliant. Molto bene!”He declared with a happy grin. “I’ve always wanted to see this.”

As he continued to babble and Rose half-listened, Donna walked a few steps forwards and then turned to nearly collapse against the console, her shoulders silently shaking.

The Doctor turned to look first at Rose and then at Donna as he told them quietly, “We’re going further back than I’ve ever been before.”

But Rose was watching Donna with a worried frown. “Donna?”She asked quietly, coming around to stand in front of the other woman.

It was then that she noticed Donna’s shoulders shaking silently and the silent tears pouring down her cheeks as she tried not to make a sound.

“Oh, Donna,” Rose whispered softly. “I’m so sorry.” She took another step forward and gently pulled Donna into a hug, holding the bride as she silently cried.

The Doctor didn’t say anything and pretended not to notice as he continued to work at the controls. But when Rose glanced up at him he nodded back and mouthed a silent thank you to her.

She smiled back and held Donna even tighter, whispering soft reassurances to the other woman as she ran her hand lightly up and down Donna’s back. Eventually, Rose gently guided Donna over to the jump seat and sat down next to her, arms still loosely wrapped around her shoulders.

 


	7. Chapter 7

 

A little more than a few minutes later, the Time Rotor stopped above them and the console began clicking quietly as it cooled down.

The Doctor flicked a few last controls and then peered cautiously around the console at them.

“Rose? Donna? We’ve arrived,” He told them without his usual enthusiasm. “Want to see?”

Donna sniffled and gently pulled away from Rose. “I s’pose,” she said unenthusiastically.

“C’mon,” Rose told her as she stood up and then turned back to offer Donna her hand. “Bet you’ll want to see this.”

Donna hesitated for a second but then took Rose’s hand and let herself be pulled to her feet. She was silent as Rose gently led her over to the monitor that the Doctor has swung around so they could look at it.

But as they came over, the Doctor studied the monitor and commented, “Oh, that scanner’s a bit small,” he told them and walked over to the door. “Maybe your way’s best.”

Rose glared at him, but led Donna over near where he was standing instead. “Come on,” she told the other woman lightly.

“No human’s ever seen this,” he remarked as they joined them. “The two of you’ll be the first.”

Donna shook her head. “All I want to see is my bed,” she told him with a resigned sigh.

The Doctor didn’t reply, but walked to the doors and said, hands curled around the handles, “Rose Tyler, Donna Noble— welcome, to the creation of the Earth.”

Without giving them a chance to say anything, he opened the doors and let the view speak for itself. Which it definitely did.

Both Rose and Donna’s mouths fell open as they saw the sun shining through clouds of beautiful colored dust and gas clouds, as well as rocks of all different sizes floating and spinning around in the space in front of them.

“We've gone back 4.6 billion years. There's no solar system, not yet. Only dust and rocks and gas,” the Doctor explained from where he was leaning against the door next to them, admiring the view as well. He pointed up and off to the left. “That’s the Sun over there, brand new. Just beginning to burn.”

“It’s beautiful,” Rose whispered softly, breathless. This was definitely on her list of the top five places he’d taken her to, and she was going to remember this for forever.

Donna stared at the space around them, trying to figure something out. “Where’s the Earth?” She asked curiously.

“All around us,” the Doctor explained, turning to look at her. “In the dust.”

She turned to stare at him and then turned back to the magnificent view, hanging her head a little. “Puts the wedding in perspective,” Donna commented soberly. “Lance was right. We’re just,” she paused, looking around them. “Tiny,” she finished.

“No, but that’s what you do,” the Doctor told her, shaking his head as he tried to cheer her up a little. “The human race, making sense out of chaos.” He bumped her shoulder lightly before going on. “Marking it out with weddings,” he said, gesturing at her dress. “And Christmas,” he grinned over her shoulder at Rose, “and calendars.” The Doctor turned back to stare out at the view again. “This whole process is beautiful, but only if it’s being observed.”

Rose spoke up for the first time in a few minutes. “So, I, we, came out of this?”

The Doctor turned, and replied with one of his face-splitting grins, “Isn’t that brilliant?”

She grinned back at him, but couldn’t take her eyes away from the breathtaking sight in front of them for long.

The three of them were silent for a while, until a massive chunk of rock floated lazily by just a few feet away from them.

“I think that’s the Isle of Wright.” Donna commented, pointing at that particular rock.

Rose snickered at her observation, but was glad that Donna seemed to have found her sense of humor again.

The Doctor laughed full out for a few seconds, and then seemed to collect himself again. “Eventually, gravity takes hold,” he told them, resuming his lecture mode. “Say, one big rock, heavier than the others, starts to pull other rocks towards it,” the Doctor said, waving his hand around. “All the dust and gas and elements get pulled in, everything, piling in until you get…”

“The Earth,” Donna finished, nodding.

He turned to smile his approval at her, but turned back to the view and glanced around them. “But the question is… what was that first rock?”

It only took a few seconds before a star-shaped rock emerged through the clouds; a rock that Rose was fairly sure wasn’t supposed to be there. “Look,” she said to her companions, pointing at the new rock.

The Doctor turned to see what she was pointing at, and his eyes widened as he realized what she had seen. “The Racnoss…” he whispered softly.

He then rushed back to the console, leaving Rose and Donna still confused back by the door. “Hold on—“ the Doctor reassured them, frantically spinning a large wheel. “The Racnoss are hiding from the war!” He said and then paused to turn and address them. “What’s it doing?”

As Rose and Donna watched, the rocks, and particles of dust and gas that had been spinning freely around them began zooming towards the Racnoss ship, as if they were being drawn to it by a magnetic force.

“Just what you said,” Rose called over her shoulder to him, her eyes locked on the quickly developing Earth.

The Doctor ran back to the door to look, skidding as he came down the ramp and nearly ran into Donna and Rose as a result. “Oh, they didn’t just bury something at the centre of the Earth… they became the centre of the Earth,” He said to himself as he watched the Earth form from over Donna and Rose’s shoulders. “The first rock.”

The Tardis suddenly shuddered violently then, and the three of them were nearly knocked off their feet. Rose and Donna held onto each other and onto the sides of the doors, while the Doctor grabbed onto the railings on either side of the ramp in order to support himself.

He was the first back on his feet, and slipped around the two women in order to shut the doors.

“What was that?” Donna demanded, looking alarmed as she finally steadied herself and straightened.

But the Doctor had run to the console again, so he didn’t hear her. Rose was just as confused as Donna was. Even with all her time traveling with the Doctor, she still had no idea what was happening.

So instead, they worried more about keeping their feet as the Tardis continued to shudder and tip around them.

Rose began fighting her way up the ramp, holding onto the railing with one hand. With her other hand she pulled Donna along, helping the other woman until they were both standing at the top of the ramp.

Once she was able to stay mostly upright, Donna turned to the Doctor, who, despite his experience with the hazards of Tardis travel was also having trouble keeping his feet, and demanded loudly, “What the hell’s it doing?”

He was hurrying around the console, trying his best to pilot the Tardis who didn’t seem to be responding to him, as he asked in return, “Remember that little trick I pulled- particles pulling particles?” The Doctor paused as he had to clutch at the console in order to keep upright. When he moved again, he continued, “It works in reverse, they’re pulling us back!”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Well, that’s just great.” She drawled sarcastically, but then had to grab onto the console as well.

“Well, can’t you stop it?” Donna asked, faring a little better since she had been holding onto the console from the beginning. “Hasn’t it got a handbrake? Can’t you reverse or warp or beam or something?”

The Doctor paused just long enough to glare at her from the other side of the console. “Backseat drivers,” he commented scornfully. “You’re just as bad as her,” the Doctor told her, jerking his head at Rose. But he took the moment to think, and suddenly remembered something that might at least help them. “Oh! Wait a minute!”

“Don’t think the sonic’s gonna work for this one!” Rose told him with only a hint of teasing. She watched as he knelt down beside the console. “And you better not be disappearing down there!”

When the Doctor popped back up, stumbling slightly, he threw her a mock glare. “Really, Rose. It’s like you don’t have any faith in me.”

“Oh, I do. It’s crash-landing again that I worry about,” Rose reassured him.

“What do you mean ‘again’?” Donna asked worriedly.

Rose turned towards her, letting the Doctor fiddle with whatever he was working on to tell her, “He crash-landed the Tardis dematerializing once near my flat. Hit a few buildings, and knocked over some trash cans.”

Donna stared at her before looking to the Doctor, and asked harshly, “Can you even drive this thing?”

“I can drive her fine!” The Doctor snapped at her, taking the extrapolator he had dug out from under the console and propping it up against the controls. “Now, if I do this right… which I’m sure I will… it can’t stop us, but it should give us a good bump!” He told them, working rapidly on the extrapolator and at the controls.

A few seconds later, they were all silent as the Tardis materialized back inside the chamber.

Even through the walls of the Tardis, they could hear the Racnoss Empress shouting something about a bride and a wedding. But they didn’t have time to find out just what she was saying, because as soon as they fully materialized, the Doctor lunged towards the console and heavily whacked the extrapolator. “Now!” He yelled enthusiastically.

The Tardis dematerialized from the chamber again as the Racnoss Empress shouted angrily, but they were gone before the robots could try shooting at the Tardis.

A few seconds later, the Time Rotor stilled above them as they rematerialized almost immediately without any of their previous trouble.

Almost as soon as they had landed, the Doctor was out of the Tardis like a shot, and Rose and Donna quickly followed him as soon as they had loosened their death grip on the console.

“What now?” Rose asked as she came to a stop next to him just outside the doors.

The Doctor looked hurriedly up and down the corridor, but they were alone and safe, for now.

“We’re about 200 yards to the right,” he told Rose, and reached out to first grab her hand, and then Donna’s. “Come on!”

Rose and the Doctor began running down the corridor, dragging Donna along with them. But after a few feet, Donna had to let go and use her hands to hike up her wedding dress instead so that she would be able to run and keep up with them.

They stopped at the metal door with the ladder leading to the Thames Flood Barrier and Doctor pulled out his sonic again.

“But, what do we do?” Donna asked them, her voice shaking a little, and slightly breathless from having to run so much when she hadn’t done so for a while.

Rose turned to grin slyly at her, “Make it up as we go, of course! As usual.”

The Doctor took a stethoscope out of his bottomless pockets, and held one of the metal earpieces to his ear as he listened behind the door. “I don’t know!” He said, glancing at Donna. “Like Rose said, I make it up as I go along!” The Doctor paused to smile at Rose. “But trust me; we’ve got a history with this kind of thing.”

Donna didn’t look very reassured. “But I still don’t understand,” she said, shaking her head as she gestured wildly with her arms. “I’m full of particles—but what for?”

The Doctor turned back to the door and began moving the stethoscope around to different areas of it as he listened. “There’s a Racnoss web at the centre of the Earth, but my people unraveled their power source,” he told her, glancing back over at her and Rose every so often. “The Huon particles ceased to exist, but the Racnoss are still stuck.”

Rose blinked. That had to be one of the least comprehensible explanations she’d heard from him yet. She turned to mention this to Donna, since she expected the other woman wasn’t really listening either, only to see that while she’d been listening to the Doctor’s babbling, Donna had disappeared.

It took a moment for her to react, but then she found her voice and stepped out into the corridor to yell after the woman. “Donna! Donna!”

When there wasn’t any response, Rose turned back towards the Doctor only to find that he was still babbling, this time something about keys and particles.

 Rose rolled her eyes. “Doctor!” She said fiercely, reaching up to yank the stethoscope out of his hands. “Donna’s been kidnapped!”

He turned towards her, looking annoyed at the loss of his stethoscope. But then he blinked and asked surprised, “What, again?”

“Yes, Doctor. Again,” Rose agreed, stashing the stethoscope back in his pocket. “Probably by those alien robots.”

The Doctor looked confused. “What, the pilot fish and the alien Santa’s?”

“No, the ones from the chamber,” Rose corrected, shaking her head. “With the Racnoss Empress.”

He looked enlightened now. “Oh. So she was kidnapped by the Racnoss then.” At Rose’s slightly annoyed nod, the Doctor held his hand out to her and asked, “Well, we’d better go rescue her, again, shouldn’t we?”

“Probably,” Rose agreed, taking his hand.

The Doctor grinned at her. He then pulled his sonic out again, and moved towards the door, planning to sonic it.

The only problem being that there was an armed robot standing right in the doorway once it opened.

“Ah, hello,” the Doctor greeted, hiding the sonic behind his back.

~~~~~

Meanwhile, Donna had joined Lance in being tied up in a large sticky spider like web on the ceiling by way of the Racnoss Empress and her alien robot henchmen.

She turned and told Lance spitefully, “I hate you.”

Lance laughed. “Yeah, I think we’ve gone a bit beyond that now, sweetheart.”

From her perch on the ledge, the Racnoss Empress said happily, “My golden couple. Together at last- your awful wedded life.” She raised herself so she was closer to them. “Tell me; do you want to be released?”

“Yes!” Donna and Lance shouted with fierce nods.

The Empress frowned up at them. “You’re supposed to say ‘I do!’” She said scornfully with a wicked chuckle.

Lance laughed, looking first at Donna and then back at the Empress again. “Ha. No chance.”

“Say it!” The Empress hissed shortly at him.

He looked at Donna again, taking in her frightened yet hopeful expression and bit out, “I do.”

Donna glanced at him for barely a second before she yelled down to the Empress, “I do.”

The Empress grinned up at the two of them. “I don’t,” she said, and then cackled. “Activate the particles. Purge every last one!”

Donna and Lance promptly began to glow faintly gold again, Donna more so than Lance.

After a few seconds, the Empress ordered, “And release!”

The particles extracted themselves then from Donna and Lance, to zoom down into the massive hole in the center of the chamber.

“The secret heart unlocks!” The Empress announced excitedly. “And they will awaken from their sleep of Ages.”

“Who will?” Donna shouted, confused. “What’s down there?”

Lance shook his head and turned to look at her pityingly. “How thick are you?”

There were a few moments of silence, followed by a bright flare of light from the bottom of the hole.

“My children, the long lost Racnoss, now will be born to feast on flesh!” The Empress told the room happily, her multiple eyes roaming around the chamber.

Suddenly there was the awful sound of chirping and the patter of feet as multiple creatures came storming up the hole towards them.

“My babies will be hungry,” the Racnoss Empress said thoughtfully over the loud sounds. “They need sustenance. Perish the web!” She commanded.

Lance began to rapidly shake his head, trying to get as far away from the hole below him as he could. “Use her! Not me! Use her!” He pleaded, staring terrified at the hole.

The Empress laughed, pointing at him with one of her claws. “Oh, my funny little Lance!” She commented, as if he amused her. “But you are quite impolite to your lady-friend.”

Lance was trembling by now, still shaking his head in denial as he tried to plead with the Empress.

But the Empress pretended not to hear him. “The Empress,” she declared, “does not,” she raised her claws, “approve!”

As she brought her claws back down as if striking the air, the web around Lance loosened and he fell down into the hole, arms and legs flailing.

Donna yelled after him until she could no longer see him, while the Racnoss Empress laughed triumphantly on the ledge, eyes wide as she bared her teeth in a horrible grin.

Donna soon quieted, staring miserably down at the hole. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed two of the robots break away from the others and begin to ascend the stairs leading up the side of the chamber. She frowned, squinting at the two robots as if that would help her see them better.

Meanwhile, the Empress continued to laugh as the sounds grew louder and louder. Finally she announced happily, “My children are climbing towards me and none shall stop them!”

Suddenly the Empress turned to the two alien robots that were now standing on the stair landing right above her. “So you might as well unmask, my clever little doctor-man, and his disrespectful blonde lady-friend.”

With a guilty shrug, one of the robots pulled off its mask and then the cloak to reveal the Doctor. “Oh well, nice try,” he commented, not sounding too put-out at getting caught. The Doctor then turned to the robot beside him and said, “Come on, Rose. The gig's up I’m afraid.”

The robot next to him sighed noisily, but then reached up and pulled off its mask to reveal Rose. “Well, was fun while it lasted,” she said, taking off her cloak.

“Definitely was,” the Doctor agreed before turning back to look up at Donna. “I’ve got you Donna!” He reassured her as he took out his sonic and aimed it at the web holding her.

“Maybe,” Rose said quietly to herself.

“I’m gonna fall!” Donna screeched as the web began to quickly loosen around her, the strands breaking apart.

“You’re gonna swing!” The Doctor disagreed, tucking the sonic back into his pocket.

Rose raised her hand to partially cover her eyes. “This isn’t gonna end well…”

As one of the last few strands holding her broke, leaving just one supporting her, Donna swung right over the hole and towards Rose and the Doctor.

The Doctor moved to the very edge of the railing and called to her, arms outstretched, “I’ve got ya!”

Donna screamed as she swung across the hole.  The Doctor then watched as she swung right underneath the landing where he stood, smashing into the wall with a loud thud.

Over on the ledge, the Racnoss Empress smirked.

The Doctor slumped uncomfortably. “… Oh. Sorry,” he apologized guiltily.

“Oh, I am _never_ letting you forget this,” Rose told the Doctor, punching him in the arm. She then leaned over the railing to look down at Donna. “You all right? No bones broken or nothing?” Rose asked worriedly.

From where she was sprawled out on her back below them, Donna managed to shake her head and smile weakly. “I’m fine, just a bit bruised.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the Doctor, “Thanks for nothing, spaceman.”

“It’s not like I meant for that to happen!” The Doctor protested weakly, but he doubted Rose or Donna were listening.

As Donna carefully got back on her feet, the Empress said almost as a compliment, “The Doctor-man amuses me.”

“”M so glad,” Rose replied, but not loud enough for the Empress to actually hear. Then she turned around and began hurrying down the stairs to where Donna was.

“Rose!” The Doctor called, turning around to call her back. But she’d already disappeared onto the next flight, so he turned back and addressed the Empress. “Empress of the Racnoss—I give you one last chance. I can find you a planet. I can find you a place in the universe to coexist. Take that offer, and end this now,” he offered diplomatically.

Donna rolled her eyes. “Like that’s gonna work.”

Rose, who was next to her by now, helped Donna stand as she said, “Sometimes it does.”

The Empress, however, was not impressed. She smirked and remarked amusedly, “These men are so funny.”

“What’s your answer?” The Doctor demanded, tightly gripping the railing as he ignored her remark. Really, if just one of these talks would go well….

The Empress looked up at him with what could have been considered an innocent expression and she said sweetly, “Oh—I’m afraid I have to decline.” Then she laughed.

“Told you,” Donna told Rose with a triumphant smirk on her face. “No way evil spider lady gives up her chance to take over the Earth.”

Rose sighed. “Well, like I said, sometimes it works. More often than not, it doesn’t.”

The Doctor quietly sighed and then straightened. “What happens next is your own doing,” he warned her.

But the Empress shook her head. “I’ll show you what happens next!” She countered with a hiss. “At arms!”

All around the walls of the chamber, the robots once again raised their guns.

“Take aim!”

The robots turned so all of their guns were pointed singularly at the Doctor.

“Doctor!” Rose shouted, freezing in place. She wasn’t going to lose him again, not so soon after they’d found each other again.

When she tried to pull away from Donna and go running back up the stairs, Donna held tightly onto her arm. “Wait, Rose. Just wait,” she soothed quietly.

“And-“ the Empress continued with a grin, knowing that she would be triumphant now.

“Relax,” the Doctor said quietly.

A second later, all the robots went limp, as if they had been shut down.

Donna and Rose turned to stare at the robots, but every single one of them was limp and lifeless. No longer a threat.

Donna walked a few steps forward so that she could actually see the Doctor. “What’d you do?” She asked curiously.

He grinned down at her. “Guess what I’ve got, Donna?” Before she could get a chance to reply, probably with some rude comment, he reached down and produced the remote control from one of his pockets. “Pockets!” The Doctor told her, waving the device in the air.

Donna just stared at him. “How did that,” she pointed at the device, “fit in there?” She pointed at his pocket.

If it was possible, his grin widened. “They’re Martian pockets,” the Doctor replied with a straight face.

“They kinda are, really,” Rose agreed, coming up next to Donna. “They’re just bigger on the inside.”

Donna turned to stare first at Rose, then at the Doctor. “You two are mad, you are,” she said finally.

Rose and the Doctor grinned at each other. Oh, the times they'd heard that before….

“Robo-forms are not necessary,” the Empress informed them, reminding the trio of the danger at hand. “My children may feast on Martian flesh!”

The Doctor smirked slightly, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Oh, but I’m not from Mars.”

“Then where?” The Empress asked, confused and frowning.

Rose shook her head. “Doctor, you better not be planning on doing something stupid!” She warned him loudly.

Distracted from answering the Racnoss Empress, the Doctor leaned over the railing again to look down at her. “Rose Tyler, how could you say that?” He protested, mock-offended. “I’d never do such a thing.”

Before she could explain that she knew him all too well to believe that, he turned back to answer the Empress.

“He’s gonna do something stupid,” Rose told Donna knowingly, turning to the other woman. “Come on!” She said, grabbing Donna’s hand, and started to pull her back up the stairs.

Donna blinked, finding herself being dragged backwards and up the stairs by a worried blonde. “Rose, what-?”

“Never mind, just hurry!” Rose called down to her.

As they rushed up towards him, the Doctor finally answered the Empress’ earlier question.

“My home planet is far away, and long-since gone.” The Doctor told her, only a hint of grief in the words. “But, its name still lives on…” He paused then, before saying the name of his planet. The name he hadn’t spoken since the end of the War;  a name he wasn’t sure he could even say. Had it been long enough since the War that he could finally say the name of his lost planet, that he could maybe begin sharing pieces of his life with Rose?

The Doctor took a deep breath, steeling himself. He then raised his head again, and opened his mouth to actually say the name out loud for the first time in years.

“Ga-“ But then, before he could get past the first syllable, Rose came up next to him and looped her arm through his. He stopped, and turned to find her smiling supportively at him.

The Doctor smiled back at her, although it was a little forced, and then turned back to the Empress. But the moment was gone and he said instead, “Its name lives on, and so does its people.” He paused, partially for dramatic effect, and felt Rose gently squeeze his arm. “The Time Lords.”

From a little behind Rose, Donna snorted and said, “Not at all pompous then.”

Meanwhile, the Empress had started hissing and snarling as soon as the Doctor announced what he was. “They murdered the Racnoss!” She roared at him, now full of rage.

“Well, they probably deserved it!” Donna shot back just as angrily, coming to stand next to Rose. “’Specially if they went around kidnapping people out of their own wedding just to bring about the end of the world!”

Rose glanced at the other woman, and slowly shook her head, warning her to stay quiet.

Although he knew it wouldn’t do any good, the Doctor made his offer one more time. “Empress of the Racnoss, listen to me. Leave now, return to your ship and I promise no harm will come to you or to your children.”

The Empress just shook her head, laughing mockingly. “You might be a Time Lord, Doctor-man. But that doesn’t mean I have to accept your offer. In fact, once again, I refuse.” She raised herself to her full height. “There is nothing you can do to threaten me.”

The Doctor sighed quietly. “Then, I’m sorry, but I have to stop you.”

Rose gently squeezed his arm, drawing his attention. “We, Doctor. We’re in this together.” She corrected him, her voice gentle. “You’re not alone anymore,” Rose reminded him, reaching up lightly kiss him on the cheek and brush dark strands of hair away from wide, vulnerable eyes. “You have me.”

The corner of his mouth twitched upward, and he managed a shaky, “Rose…”

“Don’t know if it matters, but I’m here too, spaceman.” Donna broke in, her words reassuring instead of mocking, even with the added nickname.

With a shaky laugh, the Doctor pulled Rose into a hug so tight that she could barely breathe. As he held Rose, the Doctor looked over at Donna to give her a grateful smile. “Thank you,” he told her softly.

Donna just nodded. “I might not be used to all this ‘saving the Earth’ like you two are, but I’ll still help where I can.”

“How adorable.” The Racnoss Empress cooed sarcastically. “The Time Lord and his two humans think they can defeat me, the Empress of the Racnoss!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Donna snapped, rolling her eyes. “We know who you are.”

Rose pulled away from the Doctor to turn towards the Empress. “And we’re not just humans, we’re Rose and Donna. We have names, ya know.” She glanced over to grin cheekily at Donna. “And together the three of us are gonna stop you!”

“You found a use for humans yourself, Empress, as I remember.” The Doctor added, and then winced when Rose jabbed him in the side. “What? I was just trying to help!”

Rose shook her head at his cluelessness and took a step towards him. “Well, you’re not, Doctor. You might’ve forgotten, but she was using humans for food. Plus she fed them Donna’s fiancé!” Rose practically hissed at him, keeping her voice quiet enough so Donna wouldn’t hear.

The Doctor winced again, shooting a look at Donna. But luckily the fiery red-head didn’t seem to have heard them.

“Silence!” The Empress yelled angrily. “I order you to be quiet!”

“Luck with that,” Rose told the Empress, rolling her eyes.

The Doctor snickered, but was preoccupied with digging through his pockets.

Donna, who was watching him, frowned and asked curiously, “What’re you looking for?”

“Something we can use against the Empress,” he told her, glancing up briefly.

“What, in your pockets?” Donna asked skeptically, wrinkling her nose.

The Doctor glanced up again, giving her an annoyed look. “Yes, in my pockets. I had that remote in here, figures I might have something else that’ll help.”

“You’d be surprised what he keeps in there,” Rose told Donna. “Sonic screwdriver, glasses, extra ties, crisps, rubber bands, bouncy balls, a rubber duck,” she listed off item after item, and then finished, “And bananas of course.”

“Bananas?” Donna echoed.

Rose nodded in confirmation. “Yep.”

The Doctor let out a triumphant yell. “And… these!” He announced, pulling his hand out of his pocket to show them a handful of baubles.

Donna and Rose stared at the baubles resting in his hand.

“Aren’t those-?” Donna began surprised.

“- The killer dive-bombing decorations from that tree?” The Doctor finished quickly. “Yep.”

Rose leaned over to gingerly poke one of the baubles. “And you just happened to pick some of them up?”

“Well… yeah.” The Doctor agreed. “Pretty much.”

Donna and Rose glanced at each other. “Right…”

 


	8. Chapter 8

 

A little more than a few minutes later, the Time Rotor stopped above them and the console began clicking quietly as it cooled down.

The Doctor flicked a few last controls and then peered cautiously around the console at them.

“Rose? Donna? We’ve arrived,” He told them without his usual enthusiasm. “Want to see?”

Donna sniffled and gently pulled away from Rose. “I s’pose,” she said unenthusiastically.

“C’mon,” Rose told her as she stood up and then turned back to offer Donna her hand. “Bet you’ll want to see this.”

Donna hesitated for a second but then took Rose’s hand and let herself be pulled to her feet. She was silent as Rose gently led her over to the monitor that the Doctor has swung around so they could look at it.

But as they came over, the Doctor studied the monitor and commented, “Oh, that scanner’s a bit small,” he told them and walked over to the door. “Maybe your way’s best.”

Rose glared at him, but led Donna over near where he was standing instead. “Come on,” she told the other woman lightly.

“No human’s ever seen this,” he remarked as they joined them. “The two of you’ll be the first.”

Donna shook her head. “All I want to see is my bed,” she told him with a resigned sigh.

The Doctor didn’t reply, but walked to the doors and said, hands curled around the handles, “Rose Tyler, Donna Noble— welcome, to the creation of the Earth.”

Without giving them a chance to say anything, he opened the doors and let the view speak for itself. Which it definitely did.

Both Rose and Donna’s mouths fell open as they saw the sun shining through clouds of beautiful colored dust and gas clouds, as well as rocks of all different sizes floating and spinning around in the space in front of them.

“We've gone back 4.6 billion years. There's no solar system, not yet. Only dust and rocks and gas,” the Doctor explained from where he was leaning against the door next to them, admiring the view as well. He pointed up and off to the left. “That’s the Sun over there, brand new. Just beginning to burn.”

“It’s beautiful,” Rose whispered softly, breathless. This was definitely on her list of the top five places he’d taken her to, and she was going to remember this for forever.

Donna stared at the space around them, trying to figure something out. “Where’s the Earth?” She asked curiously.

“All around us,” the Doctor explained, turning to look at her. “In the dust.”

She turned to stare at him and then turned back to the magnificent view, hanging her head a little. “Puts the wedding in perspective,” Donna commented soberly. “Lance was right. We’re just,” she paused, looking around them. “Tiny,” she finished.

“No, but that’s what you do,” the Doctor told her, shaking his head as he tried to cheer her up a little. “The human race, making sense out of chaos.” He bumped her shoulder lightly before going on. “Marking it out with weddings,” he said, gesturing at her dress. “And Christmas,” he grinned over her shoulder at Rose, “and calendars.” The Doctor turned back to stare out at the view again. “This whole process is beautiful, but only if it’s being observed.”

Rose spoke up for the first time in a few minutes. “So, I, we, came out of this?”

The Doctor turned, and replied with one of his face-splitting grins, “Isn’t that brilliant?”

She grinned back at him, but couldn’t take her eyes away from the breathtaking sight in front of them for long.

The three of them were silent for a while, until a massive chunk of rock floated lazily by just a few feet away from them.

“I think that’s the Isle of Wright.” Donna commented, pointing at that particular rock.

Rose snickered at her observation, but was glad that Donna seemed to have found her sense of humor again.

The Doctor laughed full out for a few seconds, and then seemed to collect himself again. “Eventually, gravity takes hold,” he told them, resuming his lecture mode. “Say, one big rock, heavier than the others, starts to pull other rocks towards it,” the Doctor said, waving his hand around. “All the dust and gas and elements get pulled in, everything, piling in until you get…”

“The Earth,” Donna finished, nodding.

He turned to smile his approval at her, but turned back to the view and glanced around them. “But the question is… what was that first rock?”

It only took a few seconds before a star-shaped rock emerged through the clouds; a rock that Rose was fairly sure wasn’t supposed to be there. “Look,” she said to her companions, pointing at the new rock.

The Doctor turned to see what she was pointing at, and his eyes widened as he realized what she had seen. “The Racnoss…” he whispered softly.

He then rushed back to the console, leaving Rose and Donna still confused back by the door. “Hold on—“ the Doctor reassured them, frantically spinning a large wheel. “The Racnoss are hiding from the war!” He said and then paused to turn and address them. “What’s it doing?”

As Rose and Donna watched, the rocks, and particles of dust and gas that had been spinning freely around them began zooming towards the Racnoss ship, as if they were being drawn to it by a magnetic force.

“Just what you said,” Rose called over her shoulder to him, her eyes locked on the quickly developing Earth.

The Doctor ran back to the door to look, skidding as he came down the ramp and nearly ran into Donna and Rose as a result. “Oh, they didn’t just bury something at the centre of the Earth… they became the centre of the Earth,” He said to himself as he watched the Earth form from over Donna and Rose’s shoulders. “The first rock.”

The Tardis suddenly shuddered violently then, and the three of them were nearly knocked off their feet. Rose and Donna held onto each other and onto the sides of the doors, while the Doctor grabbed onto the railings on either side of the ramp in order to support himself.

He was the first back on his feet, and slipped around the two women in order to shut the doors.

“What was that?” Donna demanded, looking alarmed as she finally steadied herself and straightened.

But the Doctor had run to the console again, so he didn’t hear her. Rose was just as confused as Donna was. Even with all her time traveling with the Doctor, she still had no idea what was happening.

So instead, they worried more about keeping their feet as the Tardis continued to shudder and tip around them.

Rose began fighting her way up the ramp, holding onto the railing with one hand. With her other hand she pulled Donna along, helping the other woman until they were both standing at the top of the ramp.

Once she was able to stay mostly upright, Donna turned to the Doctor, who, despite his experience with the hazards of Tardis travel was also having trouble keeping his feet, and demanded loudly, “What the hell’s it doing?”

He was hurrying around the console, trying his best to pilot the Tardis who didn’t seem to be responding to him, as he asked in return, “Remember that little trick I pulled- particles pulling particles?” The Doctor paused as he had to clutch at the console in order to keep upright. When he moved again, he continued, “It works in reverse, they’re pulling us back!”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Well, that’s just great.” She drawled sarcastically, but then had to grab onto the console as well.

“Well, can’t you stop it?” Donna asked, faring a little better since she had been holding onto the console from the beginning. “Hasn’t it got a handbrake? Can’t you reverse or warp or beam or something?”

The Doctor paused just long enough to glare at her from the other side of the console. “Backseat drivers,” he commented scornfully. “You’re just as bad as her,” the Doctor told her, jerking his head at Rose. But he took the moment to think, and suddenly remembered something that might at least help them. “Oh! Wait a minute!”

“Don’t think the sonic’s gonna work for this one!” Rose told him with only a hint of teasing. She watched as he knelt down beside the console. “And you better not be disappearing down there!”

When the Doctor popped back up, stumbling slightly, he threw her a mock glare. “Really, Rose. It’s like you don’t have any faith in me.”

“Oh, I do. It’s crash-landing again that I worry about,” Rose reassured him.

“What do you mean ‘again’?” Donna asked worriedly.

Rose turned towards her, letting the Doctor fiddle with whatever he was working on to tell her, “He crash-landed the Tardis dematerializing once near my flat. Hit a few buildings, and knocked over some trash cans.”

Donna stared at her before looking to the Doctor, and asked harshly, “Can you even drive this thing?”

“I can drive her fine!” The Doctor snapped at her, taking the extrapolator he had dug out from under the console and propping it up against the controls. “Now, if I do this right… which I’m sure I will… it can’t stop us, but it should give us a good bump!” He told them, working rapidly on the extrapolator and at the controls.

A few seconds later, they were all silent as the Tardis materialized back inside the chamber.

Even through the walls of the Tardis, they could hear the Racnoss Empress shouting something about a bride and a wedding. But they didn’t have time to find out just what she was saying, because as soon as they fully materialized, the Doctor lunged towards the console and heavily whacked the extrapolator. “Now!” He yelled enthusiastically.

The Tardis dematerialized from the chamber again as the Racnoss Empress shouted angrily, but they were gone before the robots could try shooting at the Tardis.

A few seconds later, the Time Rotor stilled above them as they rematerialized almost immediately without any of their previous trouble.

Almost as soon as they had landed, the Doctor was out of the Tardis like a shot, and Rose and Donna quickly followed him as soon as they had loosened their death grip on the console.

“What now?” Rose asked as she came to a stop next to him just outside the doors.

The Doctor looked hurriedly up and down the corridor, but they were alone and safe, for now.

“We’re about 200 yards to the right,” he told Rose, and reached out to first grab her hand, and then Donna’s. “Come on!”

Rose and the Doctor began running down the corridor, dragging Donna along with them. But after a few feet, Donna had to let go and use her hands to hike up her wedding dress instead so that she would be able to run and keep up with them.

They stopped at the metal door with the ladder leading to the Thames Flood Barrier and Doctor pulled out his sonic again.

“But, what do we do?” Donna asked them, her voice shaking a little, and slightly breathless from having to run so much when she hadn’t done so for a while.

Rose turned to grin slyly at her, “Make it up as we go, of course! As usual.”

The Doctor took a stethoscope out of his bottomless pockets, and held one of the metal earpieces to his ear as he listened behind the door. “I don’t know!” He said, glancing at Donna. “Like Rose said, I make it up as I go along!” The Doctor paused to smile at Rose. “But trust me; we’ve got a history with this kind of thing.”

Donna didn’t look very reassured. “But I still don’t understand,” she said, shaking her head as she gestured wildly with her arms. “I’m full of particles—but what for?”

The Doctor turned back to the door and began moving the stethoscope around to different areas of it as he listened. “There’s a Racnoss web at the centre of the Earth, but my people unraveled their power source,” he told her, glancing back over at her and Rose every so often. “The Huon particles ceased to exist, but the Racnoss are still stuck.”

Rose blinked. That had to be one of the least comprehensible explanations she’d heard from him yet. She turned to mention this to Donna, since she expected the other woman wasn’t really listening either, only to see that while she’d been listening to the Doctor’s babbling, Donna had disappeared.

It took a moment for her to react, but then she found her voice and stepped out into the corridor to yell after the woman. “Donna! Donna!”

When there wasn’t any response, Rose turned back towards the Doctor only to find that he was still babbling, this time something about keys and particles.

 Rose rolled her eyes. “Doctor!” She said fiercely, reaching up to yank the stethoscope out of his hands. “Donna’s been kidnapped!”

He turned towards her, looking annoyed at the loss of his stethoscope. But then he blinked and asked surprised, “What, again?”

“Yes, Doctor. Again,” Rose agreed, stashing the stethoscope back in his pocket. “Probably by those alien robots.”

The Doctor looked confused. “What, the pilot fish and the alien Santa’s?”

“No, the ones from the chamber,” Rose corrected, shaking her head. “With the Racnoss Empress.”

He looked enlightened now. “Oh. So she was kidnapped by the Racnoss then.” At Rose’s slightly annoyed nod, the Doctor held his hand out to her and asked, “Well, we’d better go rescue her, again, shouldn’t we?”

“Probably,” Rose agreed, taking his hand.

The Doctor grinned at her. He then pulled his sonic out again, and moved towards the door, planning to sonic it.

The only problem being that there was an armed robot standing right in the doorway once it opened.

“Ah, hello,” the Doctor greeted, hiding the sonic behind his back.

~~~~~

Meanwhile, Donna had joined Lance in being tied up in a large sticky spider like web on the ceiling by way of the Racnoss Empress and her alien robot henchmen.

She turned and told Lance spitefully, “I hate you.”

Lance laughed. “Yeah, I think we’ve gone a bit beyond that now, sweetheart.”

From her perch on the ledge, the Racnoss Empress said happily, “My golden couple. Together at last- your awful wedded life.” She raised herself so she was closer to them. “Tell me; do you want to be released?”

“Yes!” Donna and Lance shouted with fierce nods.

The Empress frowned up at them. “You’re supposed to say ‘I do!’” She said scornfully with a wicked chuckle.

Lance laughed, looking first at Donna and then back at the Empress again. “Ha. No chance.”

“Say it!” The Empress hissed shortly at him.

He looked at Donna again, taking in her frightened yet hopeful expression and bit out, “I do.”

Donna glanced at him for barely a second before she yelled down to the Empress, “I do.”

The Empress grinned up at the two of them. “I don’t,” she said, and then cackled. “Activate the particles. Purge every last one!”

Donna and Lance promptly began to glow faintly gold again, Donna more so than Lance.

After a few seconds, the Empress ordered, “And release!”

The particles extracted themselves then from Donna and Lance, to zoom down into the massive hole in the center of the chamber.

“The secret heart unlocks!” The Empress announced excitedly. “And they will awaken from their sleep of Ages.”

“Who will?” Donna shouted, confused. “What’s down there?”

Lance shook his head and turned to look at her pityingly. “How thick are you?”

There were a few moments of silence, followed by a bright flare of light from the bottom of the hole.

“My children, the long lost Racnoss, now will be born to feast on flesh!” The Empress told the room happily, her multiple eyes roaming around the chamber.

Suddenly there was the awful sound of chirping and the patter of feet as multiple creatures came storming up the hole towards them.

“My babies will be hungry,” the Racnoss Empress said thoughtfully over the loud sounds. “They need sustenance. Perish the web!” She commanded.

Lance began to rapidly shake his head, trying to get as far away from the hole below him as he could. “Use her! Not me! Use her!” He pleaded, staring terrified at the hole.

The Empress laughed, pointing at him with one of her claws. “Oh, my funny little Lance!” She commented, as if he amused her. “But you are quite impolite to your lady-friend.”

Lance was trembling by now, still shaking his head in denial as he tried to plead with the Empress.

But the Empress pretended not to hear him. “The Empress,” she declared, “does not,” she raised her claws, “approve!”

As she brought her claws back down as if striking the air, the web around Lance loosened and he fell down into the hole, arms and legs flailing.

Donna yelled after him until she could no longer see him, while the Racnoss Empress laughed triumphantly on the ledge, eyes wide as she bared her teeth in a horrible grin.

Donna soon quieted, staring miserably down at the hole. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed two of the robots break away from the others and begin to ascend the stairs leading up the side of the chamber. She frowned, squinting at the two robots as if that would help her see them better.

Meanwhile, the Empress continued to laugh as the sounds grew louder and louder. Finally she announced happily, “My children are climbing towards me and none shall stop them!”

Suddenly the Empress turned to the two alien robots that were now standing on the stair landing right above her. “So you might as well unmask, my clever little doctor-man, and his disrespectful blonde lady-friend.”

With a guilty shrug, one of the robots pulled off its mask and then the cloak to reveal the Doctor. “Oh well, nice try,” he commented, not sounding too put-out at getting caught. The Doctor then turned to the robot beside him and said, “Come on, Rose. The gig's up I’m afraid.”

The robot next to him sighed noisily, but then reached up and pulled off its mask to reveal Rose. “Well, was fun while it lasted,” she said, taking off her cloak.

“Definitely was,” the Doctor agreed before turning back to look up at Donna. “I’ve got you Donna!” He reassured her as he took out his sonic and aimed it at the web holding her.

“Maybe,” Rose said quietly to herself.

“I’m gonna fall!” Donna screeched as the web began to quickly loosen around her, the strands breaking apart.

“You’re gonna swing!” The Doctor disagreed, tucking the sonic back into his pocket.

Rose raised her hand to partially cover her eyes. “This isn’t gonna end well…”

As one of the last few strands holding her broke, leaving just one supporting her, Donna swung right over the hole and towards Rose and the Doctor.

The Doctor moved to the very edge of the railing and called to her, arms outstretched, “I’ve got ya!”

Donna screamed as she swung across the hole.  The Doctor then watched as she swung right underneath the landing where he stood, smashing into the wall with a loud thud.

Over on the ledge, the Racnoss Empress smirked.

The Doctor slumped uncomfortably. “… Oh. Sorry,” he apologized guiltily.

“Oh, I am _never_ letting you forget this,” Rose told the Doctor, punching him in the arm. She then leaned over the railing to look down at Donna. “You all right? No bones broken or nothing?” Rose asked worriedly.

From where she was sprawled out on her back below them, Donna managed to shake her head and smile weakly. “I’m fine, just a bit bruised.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the Doctor, “Thanks for nothing, spaceman.”

“It’s not like I meant for that to happen!” The Doctor protested weakly, but he doubted Rose or Donna were listening.

As Donna carefully got back on her feet, the Empress said almost as a compliment, “The Doctor-man amuses me.”

“”M so glad,” Rose replied, but not loud enough for the Empress to actually hear. Then she turned around and began hurrying down the stairs to where Donna was.

“Rose!” The Doctor called, turning around to call her back. But she’d already disappeared onto the next flight, so he turned back and addressed the Empress. “Empress of the Racnoss—I give you one last chance. I can find you a planet. I can find you a place in the universe to coexist. Take that offer, and end this now,” he offered diplomatically.

Donna rolled her eyes. “Like that’s gonna work.”

Rose, who was next to her by now, helped Donna stand as she said, “Sometimes it does.”

The Empress, however, was not impressed. She smirked and remarked amusedly, “These men are so funny.”

“What’s your answer?” The Doctor demanded, tightly gripping the railing as he ignored her remark. Really, if just one of these talks would go well….

The Empress looked up at him with what could have been considered an innocent expression and she said sweetly, “Oh—I’m afraid I have to decline.” Then she laughed.

“Told you,” Donna told Rose with a triumphant smirk on her face. “No way evil spider lady gives up her chance to take over the Earth.”

Rose sighed. “Well, like I said, sometimes it works. More often than not, it doesn’t.”

The Doctor quietly sighed and then straightened. “What happens next is your own doing,” he warned her.

But the Empress shook her head. “I’ll show you what happens next!” She countered with a hiss. “At arms!”

All around the walls of the chamber, the robots once again raised their guns.

“Take aim!”

The robots turned so all of their guns were pointed singularly at the Doctor.

“Doctor!” Rose shouted, freezing in place. She wasn’t going to lose him again, not so soon after they’d found each other again.

When she tried to pull away from Donna and go running back up the stairs, Donna held tightly onto her arm. “Wait, Rose. Just wait,” she soothed quietly.

“And-“ the Empress continued with a grin, knowing that she would be triumphant now.

“Relax,” the Doctor said quietly.

A second later, all the robots went limp, as if they had been shut down.

Donna and Rose turned to stare at the robots, but every single one of them was limp and lifeless. No longer a threat.

Donna walked a few steps forward so that she could actually see the Doctor. “What’d you do?” She asked curiously.

He grinned down at her. “Guess what I’ve got, Donna?” Before she could get a chance to reply, probably with some rude comment, he reached down and produced the remote control from one of his pockets. “Pockets!” The Doctor told her, waving the device in the air.

Donna just stared at him. “How did that,” she pointed at the device, “fit in there?” She pointed at his pocket.

If it was possible, his grin widened. “They’re Martian pockets,” the Doctor replied with a straight face.

“They kinda are, really,” Rose agreed, coming up next to Donna. “They’re just bigger on the inside.”

Donna turned to stare first at Rose, then at the Doctor. “You two are mad, you are,” she said finally.

Rose and the Doctor grinned at each other. Oh, the times they'd heard that before….

“Robo-forms are not necessary,” the Empress informed them, reminding the trio of the danger at hand. “My children may feast on Martian flesh!”

The Doctor smirked slightly, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Oh, but I’m not from Mars.”

“Then where?” The Empress asked, confused and frowning.

Rose shook her head. “Doctor, you better not be planning on doing something stupid!” She warned him loudly.

Distracted from answering the Racnoss Empress, the Doctor leaned over the railing again to look down at her. “Rose Tyler, how could you say that?” He protested, mock-offended. “I’d never do such a thing.”

Before she could explain that she knew him all too well to believe that, he turned back to answer the Empress.

“He’s gonna do something stupid,” Rose told Donna knowingly, turning to the other woman. “Come on!” She said, grabbing Donna’s hand, and started to pull her back up the stairs.

Donna blinked, finding herself being dragged backwards and up the stairs by a worried blonde. “Rose, what-?”

“Never mind, just hurry!” Rose called down to her.

As they rushed up towards him, the Doctor finally answered the Empress’ earlier question.

“My home planet is far away, and long-since gone.” The Doctor told her, only a hint of grief in the words. “But, its name still lives on…” He paused then, before saying the name of his planet. The name he hadn’t spoken since the end of the War;  a name he wasn’t sure he could even say. Had it been long enough since the War that he could finally say the name of his lost planet, that he could maybe begin sharing pieces of his life with Rose?

The Doctor took a deep breath, steeling himself. He then raised his head again, and opened his mouth to actually say the name out loud for the first time in years.

“Ga-“ But then, before he could get past the first syllable, Rose came up next to him and looped her arm through his. He stopped, and turned to find her smiling supportively at him.

The Doctor smiled back at her, although it was a little forced, and then turned back to the Empress. But the moment was gone and he said instead, “Its name lives on, and so does its people.” He paused, partially for dramatic effect, and felt Rose gently squeeze his arm. “The Time Lords.”

From a little behind Rose, Donna snorted and said, “Not at all pompous then.”

Meanwhile, the Empress had started hissing and snarling as soon as the Doctor announced what he was. “They murdered the Racnoss!” She roared at him, now full of rage.

“Well, they probably deserved it!” Donna shot back just as angrily, coming to stand next to Rose. “’Specially if they went around kidnapping people out of their own wedding just to bring about the end of the world!”

Rose glanced at the other woman, and slowly shook her head, warning her to stay quiet.

Although he knew it wouldn’t do any good, the Doctor made his offer one more time. “Empress of the Racnoss, listen to me. Leave now, return to your ship and I promise no harm will come to you or to your children.”

The Empress just shook her head, laughing mockingly. “You might be a Time Lord, Doctor-man. But that doesn’t mean I have to accept your offer. In fact, once again, I refuse.” She raised herself to her full height. “There is nothing you can do to threaten me.”

The Doctor sighed quietly. “Then, I’m sorry, but I have to stop you.”

Rose gently squeezed his arm, drawing his attention. “We, Doctor. We’re in this together.” She corrected him, her voice gentle. “You’re not alone anymore,” Rose reminded him, reaching up lightly kiss him on the cheek and brush dark strands of hair away from wide, vulnerable eyes. “You have me.”

The corner of his mouth twitched upward, and he managed a shaky, “Rose…”

“Don’t know if it matters, but I’m here too, spaceman.” Donna broke in, her words reassuring instead of mocking, even with the added nickname.

With a shaky laugh, the Doctor pulled Rose into a hug so tight that she could barely breathe. As he held Rose, the Doctor looked over at Donna to give her a grateful smile. “Thank you,” he told her softly.

Donna just nodded. “I might not be used to all this ‘saving the Earth’ like you two are, but I’ll still help where I can.”

“How adorable.” The Racnoss Empress cooed sarcastically. “The Time Lord and his two humans think they can defeat me, the Empress of the Racnoss!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Donna snapped, rolling her eyes. “We know who you are.”

Rose pulled away from the Doctor to turn towards the Empress. “And we’re not just humans, we’re Rose and Donna. We have names, ya know.” She glanced over to grin cheekily at Donna. “And together the three of us are gonna stop you!”

“You found a use for humans yourself, Empress, as I remember.” The Doctor added, and then winced when Rose jabbed him in the side. “What? I was just trying to help!”

Rose shook her head at his cluelessness and took a step towards him. “Well, you’re not, Doctor. You might’ve forgotten, but she was using humans for food. Plus she fed them Donna’s fiancé!” Rose practically hissed at him, keeping her voice quiet enough so Donna wouldn’t hear.

The Doctor winced again, shooting a look at Donna. But luckily the fiery red-head didn’t seem to have heard them.

“Silence!” The Empress yelled angrily. “I order you to be quiet!”

“Luck with that,” Rose told the Empress, rolling her eyes.

The Doctor snickered, but was preoccupied with digging through his pockets.

Donna, who was watching him, frowned and asked curiously, “What’re you looking for?”

“Something we can use against the Empress,” he told her, glancing up briefly.

“What, in your pockets?” Donna asked skeptically, wrinkling her nose.

The Doctor glanced up again, giving her an annoyed look. “Yes, in my pockets. I had that remote in here, figures I might have something else that’ll help.”

“You’d be surprised what he keeps in there,” Rose told Donna. “Sonic screwdriver, glasses, extra ties, crisps, rubber bands, bouncy balls, a rubber duck,” she listed off item after item, and then finished, “And bananas of course.”

“Bananas?” Donna echoed.

Rose nodded in confirmation. “Yep.”

The Doctor let out a triumphant yell. “And… these!” He announced, pulling his hand out of his pocket to show them a handful of baubles.

Donna and Rose stared at the baubles resting in his hand.

“Aren’t those-?” Donna began surprised.

“- The killer dive-bombing decorations from that tree?” The Doctor finished quickly. “Yep.”

Rose leaned over to gingerly poke one of the baubles. “And you just happened to pick some of them up?”

“Well… yeah.” The Doctor agreed. “Pretty much.”

Donna and Rose glanced at each other. “Right…”

 


	9. Chapter 9

 

While they were making fun of him, the Doctor turned back towards the Empress, decorations still in hand.

“I gave you your last chance, Empress. What happens now is your own doing,” he told her sternly, holding up the baubles for her to see.

The Empress stared horrified at the decorations, but then seemed to recover herself. At least enough to tell him, “My children are hurrying towards the surface as we speak! They will be here before you can even try to defeat me!”

“Oh, we’ll see about that.” Rose said from beside him, and Donna stepped up next to her.

“You can do nothing!” The Empress declared again, glaring at the three of them.

Wordlessly, the Doctor raised his hand into the air, still holding the decorations. He then drew his arm back, and threw the baubles across the chamber and in the Empress’ general direction.

In theory, the decorations weren’t actually supposed to do much destruction at all; just enough to take care of the Empress’ children and to scare the Empress back to her ship.

But, his theory didn’t actually follow through as planned. There was a lot more water, and more explosions in general than he’d expected.

“What’s with you and blowing things up?” Rose asked him, only partially teasing. “First my job, and now this.”

Donna turned to stare at him. “You blew up her job?” She asked in sharp disbelief.

“I didn’t mean to!” The Doctor protested. “And I didn’t mean this either!” He said, waving his hand at the chamber below them.

In the chamber, several of the baubles had landed and then exploded at the Empress’ feet, causing a small fire to start right in front of her. But the major damage had been caused by most of the decorations landing near the hole, and their following explosions turning most of the hole and the ground around it into pure rubble.

That would probably have been enough to stop the Empress’ children from escaping the hole and coming to the surface, but their fate was sealed when a few of the stray baubles smashed into the walls of the corridor. The walls were destroyed once the baubles exploded, and water began rushing in torrents through the rubble of the walls.

The Empress wailed grief-stricken as the water flooded into the chamber, and then down through the rubble of the hole and the ground. “My children! No! No!” She wailed as her children were drowned and suffocated by the rubble and water.

“Wow, you really are good at blowing up things,” Donna commented, staring at the destruction the baubles had caused. “I’m impressed.”

The Doctor sighed noisily, running a hand through his hair. “I didn’t mean to! It wasn’t…” He flinched as the Empress continued wailing hysterically, mourning her children.

Rose gently tugged him into an embrace, and held him tightly against her. “Know you didn’t, it was just a mistake,” she reassured him, before pulling just far enough away to kiss his cheek. “But there’s nothing more we can do here.”

“Rose…” He began to say, but then Donna interrupted him as the rest of the wall crumbled and they began to be sprayed with water.

“I hate to interrupt you two, but we’d better get out of here before something happens to us!” Donna warned them, ringing out her drenched hair and trying to ring out her dress.

The two of them quickly sprang apart, suddenly aware of being drenched with the water, but continued to hold each other’s hands.

“Right!” The Doctor agreed, turning away from the destruction to look at them, wet hair plastered against his forehead. “Let’s go!” He said, heading for the stairs and pulling an equally drenched Rose along with him.

Donna quickly followed them up the stairs, slipping once or twice, with the wails of the Empress ringing in her ears. As they left the chamber, the last thing she heard was the Empress demanding to be transported somewhere.

~~~~

The Racnoss Empress teleported herself back to her web in the sky, and sat fuming at the head of her ship. “Oh, they will suffer! So suffer!” She announced, hissing angrily as she glared down at the Earth and its people who dared defy her. “This planet shall be scorched!”

~~~~

Once they returned to the corridor, which was also wet with spray, Donna had expected they would escape to the surface in the Doctor's spaceship. But when they came to the door with the ladder leading to the Thames, the Doctor turned and ran towards it instead.

“Doctor!” Rose called after him. “Where’re you going?”

Donna stopped abruptly, and her wet shoes squeaked on the wet floor as she turned. “You’re ship's still this way!” She told him hurriedly, taking a few steps back towards them.

“I know that!” The Doctor yelled back to her as he spun the wheel once again to open the door. “But we’re going this way!”

Rose frowned, staring at him as he finally opened the door. “But what about the Tardis?” She asked as he pulled it open and then darted inside.

His voice came back slightly muffled as he paused at the base of the ladder. “She’ll be fine! C’mon!”

“Doctor!” Rose protested, but then gave up when he disappeared from her view up the ladder. She sighed noisily and turned to look at Donna who had been slowly picking her way back towards them. “Well, we’d better follow him.”

Donna paused next to Rose, and said with a laugh, “Someone still needs to keep him out of trouble.”

Rose laughed as she walked over to the room, and then went inside, “Oh you wouldn’t believe the trouble he can get into, even without trying.”

“I bet,” Donna agreed with a snicker, following Rose.

By the time Donna was at the bottom of the ladder, Rose was already hurrying up it after the Doctor. Apparently neither of them was very concerned by the water that was pouring down on them here, too.

Donna sighed and began slowly going up the ladder, trying to ignore the water getting in her eyes and the slipperiness of the metal ladder under her uncomfortable shoes. The wedding dress didn’t help make it very easy either.

Eventually Donna got the hang of it and was soon only a few rungs behind Rose.

When they were a little over halfway and still climbing, Rose called up the Doctor, “But what about the Empress?”

“She’s used up all her Huon energy,” the Doctor explained, yelling down to her. “She’s defenseless!”

~~~~~

As Rose, Donna and the Doctor continued climbing, the condition outside was a different matter.

Huge army tanks were rumbling down the now empty streets of London, the citizens of London having hidden indoors once the “star” in the sky turned out to be more than just decoration.

Once the star was within shooting difference, the tanks stopped and aimed all of their cannons up at the star.

One of the commanders, who had been walking alongside the tanks, finished talking to someone through their earpiece and turned towards a soldier who was sitting at the head of the tank next to him. “Orders from Mr. Saxon, fire at will!”

The solider nodded and spoke into his radio. “Fire!”

From all directions, cannon balls from all of the tanks shot out at the star. A few seconds later, they all hit their target, and the star quickly fell to pieces until it finally burst into flame and disintegrated completely, the Empress and all.

By then, Rose, the Doctor and Donna had reached the top of the ladder and were clambering out into the night.

The Doctor, who had been the first one out, placed a hand on their shoulders and turned Rose and Donna in the direction of the star as he pointed it out to them.

“Look! Look,” he said, staring at it as if transfixed.

Rose and Donna turned just in time to see the star as it disintegrated into the night sky. Once they realized what’d happened, the two women turned to grin at each other, and then promptly began cheering and whooping at their success.

“We did it!” Rose declared happily, spinning in place. “We did it!”

Donna clapped her hands. “Yes, we did! We showed that Empress lady who’s boss!” She shouted happily, waving her fist in the air.

The Doctor grinned at them. “I think congratulations are in order,” he declared, and then caught Rose when she leapt at him. “We were brilliant.”

“Yes, yes we were.” Rose agreed, and then proceeded to snog him.

Once a few long seconds went by, Donna stopped cheering and turned towards them. Once she saw what they were doing, she rolled her eyes and then loudly cleared her throat.

They continued for a few seconds longer before finally pulling away from each other, grinning happily.

As the Doctor gently lowered Rose back to her feet, Donna commented, “Well, no guessing what you two are anymore.”

Holding Rose against him with his arm around her waist, the Doctor asked, confused, “What do you mean?”

Donna shook her head at him, crossing her arms across her chest. “You’re not just a spaceman, you’re a dense spaceman. Listen Martian boy, if you kiss her like that, there’s no way you’re just friends. No guy kisses a girl who's just a friend like that.”

The Doctor lightly squeezed Rose. “I never said she was just a friend.” He looked down at Rose, seeing the happy grin that now seemed permanently etched onto her face. “She’s…. She’s Rose.”

Rose’s grin widened. “Aw, such a sweet talker, you are,” she teased, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek.

Donna rolled her eyes again. “If you two lovebirds can tear yourself away from each other for just a moment, you’d realize we have a problem.” When they just stared cluelessly at her, Donna told them, trying not to laugh, “We’ve drained the Thames.”

“No… really?” The Doctor asked disbelievingly.

“See for yourself,” Donna said, pointing at the river around them.

Rose and the Doctor moved a little closer to the edge and stared at the sight around them.

“Oh my gosh, she’s right!” Rose exclaimed with a laugh.

“We drained the Thames!” The Doctor announced with a wild grin, and then burst out laughing.

Rose quickly followed suit, doubling over with laughter. Donna held out for a few seconds more before she slipped and smiled before starting to laugh as well.

For a few good long minutes, they simply stood on top of the flood barrier, collapsed in laughter as the events of the day caught up with them, and the realization of just what they’d done. Nearby, the boats that were now stranded in the dry riverbed began honking at each other pointlessly, making the trio begin to laugh all over again.

When they finally managed to get themselves under control again, the Doctor helped first Rose and then Donna back to their feet.

“Let’s get you home,” he told Donna with a smile.

~~~~

The Tardis materialized on an ordinary-looking Chiswick street just a few minutes later. It was dark out still, and the lights on all the houses down the block were blaring bright.

As they stepped out, the Doctor proudly announced, “Well, here we are then. Chiswick.”

Donna turned to smile at him. “Good to know you finally got it right.”

He opened his mouth to protest, but then decided he’d be better off not saying anything.

Rose was the one who came to his rescue. “He does sometimes,” she said, then rested a hand against the side of the Tardis. “Will she be all right, Doctor?” Rose asked worriedly.

“Oh, she’ll be fine,” The Doctor quickly reassured her. “She can survive anything, my old girl can.”

Donna sighed unhappily. “More than I’ve done,” she said softly.

“You did a lot, today!” Rose reassured Donna, resting a hand on her shoulder. “We would’ve been lost without your help.”

The Doctor slipped his sonic back out of his pocket and ran it up and down Donna’s body, scanning her. “Nope!” He announced. “All the Huon particles have gone.” He smiled at her. “No damage, you’re fine.”

Donna didn’t look too reassured. “Yeah, but apart from that…” She said unhappily. “I missed my wedding, lost my job and became a widow on the same day.” Donna wrinkled her nose. “Sort of.”

“Oh, Donna.” Rose said softly, lightly hugging the woman. “No need to worry about it, I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she pulled away again to smile at Donna. “Not a lot of people could do what you did today.”

Donna managed a weak smile. “Yeah, I guess.”

The Doctor shifted uncomfortably. “I couldn’t save him,” he told her gently, hands in pockets.

“He deserved it,” Donna said unfeelingly with a light shrug, nodding.

When Rose looked reproachfully at her and the Doctor raised his eyebrows, Donna’s face softened and she sighed. “No, he didn’t.”

Donna ducked her head and then looked around at her house. “I’d better get inside,” she told them. “They’ll be worried.”

“You’re the best present they could have,” Rose reassured Donna honestly.

The three of them were silent as through the window they watched Donna’s mum and dad embrace each other.

“Oh, wait,” the Doctor said abruptly. “You hate Christmas.”

Donna nodded, turning back to them. “Yes, I do.”

“Even, if it snows?” the Doctor asked, looking at her curiously as he walked backwards towards the Tardis. He stopped at the doors and reached up to some point inside and just above the frame.

Before Donna could say anything, the light on the top of the Tardis glowed brightly and then a ball of light shot out from it and up into the sky.

It rose against the darkness of the night before exploding like a fireworks display, and becoming softly falling snow.

Donna laughed with delight. “I can’t believe you did that!”

Rose lowered her head from the sky to look over at the Doctor. “What’s with you making it snow on Christmas?”

He frowned at her. “What, don’t you like it?”

She grinned at him. “I love it!”

The Doctor smiled at her, leaning back against the doors as he took in the look ~~s~~ of delight on Donna and Rose’s faces.

“Merry Christmas,” Donna said finally, but she was still smiling.

“Merry Christmas!” Rose exclaimed happily, twirling in the snow.

“And you,” the Doctor replied. “So…” he began, looking at Donna curiously, “What will you do with yourself now?”

Donna took a breath and then let it out again. “Not getting married for starters,” she said frankly, and Rose laughed from where she was wobbling a little next to the Doctor. Donna looked up at the snow, as if it held the answers. “And, I’m not gonna temp anymore,” she stated, shaking her head. Donna was silent then for a few long seconds as she thought, but finally she continued, “I dunno…travel…see a bit more of planet Earth…walk in the dust.” She listed off, and then shrugged. “Just… go out there, and do something.”

The Doctor smiled at her, “Sounds brilliant.” He looked down at Rose, who was standing upright now, mostly by aid of her arm looped through his.

She noticed him looking at her, and looked back at him confusedly. “What?”

He glanced at Donna briefly before returning his eyes to hers.

Rose stared at him for a few more moments before her eyes widened slightly. “Oh. Really?” She asked delightedly.

The Doctor nodded.

“What’re you two on about now?” Donna called to them curiously.

Rose turned towards Donna with a happy grin. “You could come with us, travel with us, I mean…”

Donna smiled, but shook her head. “Thanks, but no.”

Rose’s face fell a little at her response, but the Doctor looked like he’d half expected it.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t…” Donna began to explain before she trailed off.

Rose’s smile returned a little as she said, “No, its fine. We understand.”

“Maybe some other time, though?” The Doctor suggested lightly. “It’s so beautiful out there…” He told her earnestly, voice soft.

“It really is, Donna.” Rose agreed, nodding her head. “There’s so much out there, so much more than you could ever imagine.”

Donna smiled at them, “I’d think so.” She appeared to think for a moment before she said, “Maybe some other time.”

The two of them grinned happily at her.

“Well, that’s all right then,” the Doctor commented, relaxing slightly.

There was a short silence between them again, until Donna asked hesitantly, “I don’t suppose I’d have any luck inviting you two to Christmas dinner, would I?”

The Doctor and Rose looked at each other for a few long moments before Rose turned back to Donna first.

“Thanks, but we’d better get going,” Rose told the other woman gently. “Go enjoy being with your family,” she said, wincing barely noticeably.

The Doctor gently squeezed her hand, but said nothing.

“Oh, but tell you what I’ll do,” Rose said suddenly, and let go of the Doctor’s hand to begin rustling in his pockets.

“Oi! What do you think you’re doing?” He protested, stiffening, as he raised his arms out of her way.

Rose shushed him, continuing to dig. Finally she made a noise of delight and removed her hands from the Doctor’s pockets, holding a scrap piece of paper and a pen.

The Doctor blinked. “Where’d those come from?”

“It’s your pocket, you tell me,” Rose replied, but she was busy writing something on the paper. When she was done, she recapped the pen and put it back in his coat pocket.

“Here we are,” Rose said, walking over to Donna. “That’s my cell number, feel free to call whenever,” she told the other woman, handing her the piece of paper. “He jiggery-pokeryed it, so I’ll get your call wherever we are.”

“Nice,” Donna commented, glancing at the paper before curling her fingers around it.

Rose smiled at her before darting forward to wrap Donna in a loose hug again. “Thanks again for everything Donna. You were brilliant.”

Donna laughed, but raised an arm to briefly hug Rose back before Rose pulled away to stand beside the Doctor and take his hand. “Thanks then, Donna. Good luck, and just… be magnificent,” he told her encouragingly, giving her a small smile. 

“I think I will, yeah,” Donna agreed smiling, and laughed a little.

The Doctor smiled back at her and went into the Tardis, pulling Rose along with him.

“Bye! See you soon!” Rose called, waving, as the doors closed behind them.

Even though she didn’t think they could see, Donna waved back and then watched as the Tardis shot up into the night sky, soon disappearing from sight.

Donna smiled, and thought silently, “See you soon, Spaceman, Rose. Safe travels.”

Then she turned and walked back home, her head buzzing with all she’d done on a day when all she’d planned was to get married.

After all, it wasn’t every day you got kidnapped by a skinny alien git and his blonde girlfriend before nearly getting killed just because a crazy bad-mannered spider Empress wanted to feed her kids.

 


	10. Chapter 10

 

As soon as the two of them were inside the Tardis, the Doctor turned and pulled Rose into a tight embrace.

“We did it, Rose! Team Tardis triumphs again!” He said excitedly, squeezing her tightly.

Rose laughed, but embraced him happily in return. “With a little help from a certain ginger bride as you might remember.”

The Doctor stilled in her arms before he slowly pulled away. “Er, well. Yes, Donna. ‘Course,” he said in a rush, quickly correcting himself. “Couldn’t have done anything without her.”

“Of course not,” Rose agreed, and then paused. “I wished she had come with us, I really liked her. She had… spunk.”

He smiled amusedly at her. “You have spunk.”

Rose blushed, but smiled as well. “Thanks. But, Donna was… special.”

After a few seconds, he agreed softly, “Yeah, she was,” as his smile shifted to something more thoughtful.

“Doctor…” Rose began without thinking, but then stopped before she could say any more.

At the sound of his name, he shook his head, as if to cast off his thoughts, and looked at her curiously, eyebrow raised.

Instead of responding, Rose bit her lip and looked away, thinking hard. She knew that she needed to ask him this.If she didn’t, it would influence everything they did together from now on, and their ability to go forward with their relationship together. Rose needed to know, and she couldn’t get distracted this time.

As Rose was thinking, the Doctor stepped forward, and gently took her hands in his. “Rose? What is it?”

When Rose glanced up at him to find him looking at her with an almost adorable worried expression, she took a deep breath and decided to ask him.

“Doctor, what… what would’ve happened if you’d been alone today?” Rose asked quietly, fighting to meet his eyes. “If you hadn’t found a way to come back for me?”

He seemed honestly surprised by her question, but recovered quickly enough to say nonchalantly, “I would have been fine, Rose. Maybe I wouldn’t have had you along, but Donna would have been with me.” The Doctor gently squeezed her hands. “And although she isn’t you, I’m sure we still would’ve gotten the job done.”

But Rose wasn’t so sure. “Even if you’d had Donna with you, who I’m sure would’ve been just fine… she isn’t me, Doctor,” Rose told him honestly, putting a little force behind her words to make sure he understood. “She doesn’t know you well enough to know that sometimes you need someone to hold your hand, or, to stop you. Donna doesn’t know from experience just how far you’ll go sometimes.” Rose leaned in towards him, fighting to not let the tears flow free from her eyes. “You scared me down there, Doctor, back in the chamber. I had no idea what you were going to do, or what you were gonna let happen. And ‘cause of that, I can’t help worrying about how even further you might’ve gone if I hadn’t been with you. If you didn’t care anymore, just ‘cause you lost me.” She gently tugged her hands away from his to raise them and place them over his hearts. “One of the best things about you is how much you can love, and care so much for people.” Rose laughed. “For us silly human apes.”

When the Doctor opened his mouth to protest, Rose shook her head, quieting him again. “And I don’t want you to lose that, even if I’m not around anymore. Not a lot of people would spend most of their life traveling the universe, helping people. They wouldn’t be so selfless to care about making the universe a better place.” Rose smiled up at him. “But that’s you, Doctor. You’re that person. And you can’t ever give up, ‘cause I imagine the universe would be a dark place without you.” She looked up earnestly at him, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Even if you lose me, Doctor, you can’t give up. You’re gonna lose me eventually, so you need take care of yourself now.”

“Oh, Rose,” the Doctor finally whispered into the silence a few long moments later. He took her hands back again, and used them to pull her back against him. “I’m sorry, Rose. I didn’t mean to worry you,” he apologized, holding her tightly. “I missed you so much when you weren’t here. I kept turning around to look for you, reaching out to hold your hand.” The Doctor sighed, burying his head in her shoulder. “You always did see the best in me, even when I couldn’t. And I missed that when I didn’t have you close by.”

Rose reached up to wrap her arms around his shoulders. “But I’m back now, Doctor. You don’t have to miss me anymore, ‘cause I’m here. Just… don’t scare me again like that, yeah?”

He nodded against her shoulder. “I’ll do my best.”

“Guess that’s all I can ask for,” Rose commented with a laugh. She lifted one hand to rest it on top of his head. “I missed you so much.”

The cloth of her shirt shifted as he turned his head to whisper in her ear, “I missed you too, Rose. So much.”

They stood holding each other for several long moments, before Rose remembered what else she’d wanted to ask him.

“Doctor?” She said softly, her voice shaking a little.

He must have heard the hesitation in her voice, because he lifted his head from her shoulder and gently pulled away. “Yes, Rose?”

Rose bit her lip again before she asked, “Do you remember that night we had together, at our flat?”

The Doctor laughed, his dark eyes bright with the memories of what had happened between them. “Of course, how could I forget?”

She smiled at him, but knew that it wouldn’t quite reach her eyes. “Do you… remember what you told me?”

He frowned, his expression the epitome of confusion. “I said a lot of things that night, Rose. But, I meant all of them.”

Rose looked hopefully up at him. “’Specially those three little words?”

“What? What three little words?” The Doctor asked, still confused, thinking over everything the two of them had talked about that night.

“The words that finished, ‘And, if it’s my last chance to say it…. Rose Tyler….’” Rose reminded him gently as she watched him hopefully.

The Doctor seemed to immediately remember what she was referring to, because he went a strange shade of red before his eyes darted away from hers. “Oh, those words,” he said.

Rose found his embarrassment at being reminded what he’d said to her endearing, especially since he’d had so much trouble saying the words in the first place. “You don’t have to say it again, not if you don’t want to. But... did you really mean it?”

“Of course I did, Rose!” The Doctor quickly reassured her. “I may be an emotionally stinted Time Lord, but that doesn’t mean I don’t,” he paused, stumbling over saying the words that he wanted to repeat over and over to her just to make sure Rose knew exactly how he felt about her. “That doesn’t mean I don’t…. love youany less. I might not always be able to say them, but I promise I’ll make it up to you by showing you how I feel, every second of every minute of every day.”

Rose laughed, but was secretly very touched by his promise. “I’ll hold you to that,” she told him firmly.

He smiled at her, dark eyes dancing despite his serious expression. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll manage it.” The Doctor leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “It’s a Time Lord thing.”

“Sure it is,” Rose teased him happily. “And I know by now that all Martians definitely keep their promises.”

She then proceeded to kiss him again before he could protest that he wasn’t from Mars, or a Martian.

 


End file.
